There's joy in repetition

Rating: 10/10 (18 November 2004)

This is one of the very few movies I will never get tired of watching and it makes me laugh although I already know all the jokes. Every time they show it on TV, I somehow end up glued to the screen. No winter is perfect without at least one viewing of this lovely winter tale. Although it's not about Christmas, it has this very X-masy feel about it. The way Bill Murray plays the cynic is great, and it is very moving (and funny at the same time) to watch how he gradually gets purified by his ordeal, until by the end he is ethically almost "superhuman". Also it is so funny because you know what's going to come next and you can't wait to see how he tries out different ways of dealing with the same situation. Although there never is an explanation about why and how the repetition of this one day comes about, it is obvious from the way the movie ends that God (or someone else up there who wants us to become good people) takes a hand in this. Of course there are a few things in the plot that can't stand up under scrutiny (people seem to remember things they shouldn't) - but that is not the point.
This is entertainment at its best. 10/10.