groundhog has his day....many days

Rating: 10/10 (5 February 2004)

There are those films after you watch for about 10 or 15 minutes or so, and you realize you are watching something very special and original. Then, you hope the rest of the movie will equally be as good, if not better, and go beyond your expectations. Those are times when you see a movie do something very original, and when it succeeds, it's sort of like discovering a diamond in a haystack, or that secret passage behind a bookcase, you basically have no idea what's going to happen next. It's almost Hitchcockian. It's a comedy, though. I had the same kind of thought as I was watching movies like "Memento" or "Dark City." It's one of those rare gems you don't see often.
The idea itself is pretty straightforward. It's Groundhog Day, and Phil, a self-absorbed newscaster, one day arrives in Pennsylvania for his gig (a place he'd rather not be), and somehow winds up so that he must repeat that same day (literally) over and over again. As Apollo in Rocky III would say, "There is no tomorrow." Literally. It's basically like time traveling to the same morning right when the day ends. (Or, to the techno-geeks out there, I suppose it's almost like an 80's text adventure game where you start over after you mess up or die in the game...but much better)
This is basically, in my opinion, Bill Murray's best role thus far (To note, I personally thought "Lost in Translation" was one of the most sleep-inducing movies I've seen -- Wong Kar Wai's "In the Mood for Love" was similar in that "subtle-ness" but much better). As Phil, played excellently by Murray, repeats the same day (Groundhog Day) day after day, he starts to loathe it, then he tries to take advantage of it, using his knowledge to woo women, tries to rob a bank, then not finding fulfillment, starts to loathe his life, and even attempts suicide (to which he wakes up to the same morning he just had). I must add, whenever I hear the "I got you, Babe" song, I am reminded of this movie (a song that repeatedly plays in this movie). There's something very "groundhoggy" about that music. What I also like about a film like this is that a character eventually goes through change--he doesn't stay the exact same person as he was. Phil, for example, eventually learns that he must change inward--obviously, changes he makes outside has no effect to anybody else since it'll be the same day tomorrow. Thus, he uses the time to acquire knowledge, becoming more well-rounded, even become a more loving person (perhaps from that inward change). In observing, I can say it's amazing what one can do in one day, if one lived one's life to the fullest. The movie indeed is very funny, if it sounded as if the movie wouldn't be funny. A lot of that credit can be attributed to the actor, the perfect-for-this-role Bill Murray (especially how he reacts to the situations--at one point he punches a guy he knows he will meet again, yet not know it), the clever writers, and smart direction from Harold "Egon" Ramis (who also makes a cameo as a doctor). An excellent film. Yes, it is kind of like "It's a Wonderful Life," if in a more comedic sense. A smart, very funny movie. A keeper. 10/10