A realization

Rating: 10/10 (20 August 2008)

I just realized one of the reasons this movie is so great.
It's great because it flew under the radar of the producers.
So many movies succumb to "producer syndrome", where the movie starts out great, but then turns sour and ends badly. And that's because "the suits" get cold feet, decide to overthrow the director's vision, and start dictating artistic direction halfway through. It derails the film; and it never fails to sicken me when I see it: Films that suffer from this syndrome could have been great if only the producers hadn't panicked.
Groundhog Day was a perfect movie to avoid this problem. Sure, it's got a pithy narrative with "heavy" dramatic interest and serious darkness, but when the suits asked, "Look, does he get the girl?" they could, in good conscience, say "Oh, you betcha!" And when they asked, "Does everyone live happily ever after?" they could answer with a hearty affirmative.
And they achieve these producer-appeasing ends with a narrative in which, yes, (almost) everyone winds up happy, but all dues that need to be paid get paid, in full, and the process by which Phil is redeemed has a surprisingly honorable depth and resonance.
So I was telling a friend that this movie surprised me because the influence of the producers was backwards; you see their influence in the beginning of the movie, but then they back off and let the creative people have their way. And they bring the story home; good and firm and safe and sound.
And happy!