Awesome!

Rating: 10/10 (26 March 2004)

SPOILERS One of my favorite films! Just like "It's a Wonderful Life," Harold Ramis sets this quirky fantasy-romantic comedy in a small, snowy town. Unlike Jimmy Stewart's character, however, Bill Murray's (one of my favorite actors of all time-- so, shoot me!) has virtually zero compassion factor at the start. Through an unknown mechanism, our "hero" is forced to relive Groundhog Day over and over until he "gets it right," that moral being in the hands of the filmmakers. On the way from ruffian to sweetheart, Phil Connors gets his face slapped repeatedly, robs a bank, becomes a romantic scoundrel, commits various suicides, and generally runs rampant as he knows that tomorrow is NOT "another day," but the same day! Great fun and loads of laughs, smirks, and "cool!"'s even after seeing more times that I can count. When Phil finally starts to "settle down" after "sowing his oats," the Capraesque elements start creeping in, until you are swimming in Americana, heroism, and sentimentality. Granted, you have to like Bill Murray (which I do), and you have to enjoy the old-fashioned sensibilities that the movie wants to impart (and I do). I give it 10/10. :-)