The greatest comedy of the 90s

Rating: 10/10 (27 March 2004)

Bill Murray is without a doubt one of my favourite comedians. His deadpan, laid back attitude always makes him a hoot to watch. That was one of the reasons why Ghostbusters was such a success. But Groundhog Day has got to be his best comedy since, because this ingenious Harold Ramis film is tailor made for Bill Murray's talents.
Murray plays weatherman Phil Connors. A selfish, cynical and sarcastic man, he is not one of the easiest people in the world to like. Every February 2nd, he travels to Punxsutawney, P.A. to cover the annual Groundhog Day festival. Legend has it if the groundhog (also called Phil) sees a shadow, it won't be an early Spring.
This is an event Phil hates, and he can't stand the town. This year, he goes there with his cameraman Larry (Chris Elliot) whom he insults every chance he gets, and his new producer Rita (Andie MacDowell). Phil falls in love with Rita, but can't open up to her in that way, and comes off as arrogant to her.
This marks his fourth visit to Punxsatawney, and after Phil (the groundhog) predicts that Winter won't be ending anytime soon this year, Phil can't wait to leave town. But a blizzard unexpectedly strands Phil, Rita and Larry, and they are forced to spend another night in Punxatawney.
When Phil wakes up the next morning, he's got a real freaky sense of deja vu. His clock radio is blaring out "I Got You Babe", the DJs are saying the exact same shtick as yesterday, and when he looks out the window, people are getting ready to go out. It's Groundhog Day all over again.
Everyone else doesn't seem to notice, and to them everything is perfectly normal. What is wonderful about this film is the way it explores every possible angle to Phil's situation and covers such a wide spectrum of emotion. From being initially baffled, to exploiting it for his own gain, depression, suicide, acceptance, and finally, self-reflection.
Despite the repetition of this never-ending day, it surprisingly never becomes boring. Although the situations may be the same, you know Bill Murray is going to do something slightly different with it. His reactions are priceless, and he experiments in a variety of different ways.
An example is when he runs into an old high school friend, Ned Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky). An insurance salesman who is ingratiating, persistent and extremely annoying. Someone you can't wait to get away from. After a couple of times Phil punches Ned, and then much later, embraces him, to Ned's horror. Stephen Tobolowsky is perfect as Ned, and nobody else could have done the performance as well.
I like the part when Phil has different ways of destroying the clock radio, from knocking it off the table, to hurling it to the floor. That's understandable if you had to wake up to "I Got You Babe" every single morning. Harold Ramis clearly wanted to be as inventive as possible with this comedy, to keep the viewers interest, which he certainly did.
Phil's various suicide attempts are a highlight in a morbid way, because he goes through every death imaginable to try to break this time warp. Unsuccessfully of course.
The main focus of the film is Phil's attempts to get it on with Rita. But she is not the kind of person who just wants to get into bed with someone, unlike Phil. Although he does learn things about Rita, he just can't seem to make it work with her. But eventually, Phil gradually realises his shortcomings, and begins to change things about himself.
Phil learns to appreciate life more, and begins to care a great deal for the people of Punxatawney. One of my favourite scenes is when he tries to save a homeless man from dying of old age. But every day, he still dies, no matter what Phil's efforts.
The film does have a happy ending, but it doesn't feel contrived the way Scrooged was. You are genuinely happy for Phil when he finally wakes up to a Groundhog Day with Rita who loves him in return. Wisely, we never find out what was causing the time warp. It adds to the charm of this film. Any attempt to explain it would have cheapened the impact.
This will always be one of my favourite films, and the wonderful range of quirky characters ensure you will always be entertained. Harold Ramis showed a capacity for storytelling on a par with Frank Capra, giving us a benign story about how you can improve yourself today for a better tomorrow.
Groundhog Day is a timeless film.