One of Bill Murray's finest

Rating: 9/10 (20 February 2006)

This is it folks. Comedy doesn't get much better than this. Danny Rubin's screenplay is funny and intelligent. Bill Murray easily gives one of his best performances and is perfectly cast. This is simply the best comedy Harold Ramis ever made up to now. This movie has had so many positive comments that there isn't much left to say actually. So I'm just here to throw in my two cents. Though the concept of reliving the same day over and over again is rather original to base a comedy on and the movie is build up flawless, having a lot of funny situations, it still is Bill Murray, with his almost natural sarcasm, that is the main attraction of this movie. I possibly couldn't have imagined another actor playing weatherman Phil Connors. Andie MacDowell was also perfect as Rita, the producer who was practically the complete counterpart of Phil. To put it simple: She loves life, Phil hates it. It even felt okay when those two become romantically involved at the end, 'cause you really want them to (with Rita having such a positive effect on Phil and all).
Scriptwriter Danny Rubin really explores every single possible thing one can do when there are absolutely no consequences the next day. Needless to say the possibilities are endless and this movie never becomes boring. Then why am I not rating it 10 out of 10 stars, you might ask. Well, the whole "grumpy, egocentric person becoming a better man"-thing was a bit obvious. And there's another thing: the fact that Phil falls in love with Rita was totally plausible. After all he's got all the time in the world to get to know here. But Rita only had one day to get to know him. So it's a bit silly for her to, at the end of that day, agree with him to rent a house in Punxsatawney and having his kids. Well, it actually isn't suggested in such an explicit way, but still... You get the idea. But then again, this is a romantic comedy (with an underlying supernatural theme), and one of the best ones out there. And I also liked the fact that the phenomenon of the re-occurring Groundhog Day isn't explained in the end. Nice move, Mr. Rubin. GROUNDHOG DAY certainly is a movie that one can watch over and over, again and again. And who knows, you might even become a better person yourself after watching it.