Seriously, how long did he spend there?

Rating: 7/10 (7 August 2017)

'GROUNDHOG DAY'
Directed by Harold Ramis
Starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.
Plot Overview: ​Phil (Bill Murray), a weatherman, is out to cover the annual emergence of the groundhog from its hole. He gets caught in a blizzard that he didn't predict and finds himself trapped in a time warp. He is doomed to relive the same day over and over again until he gets it right.
The one thing I knew about this film going into it was the premise. I knew nothing else about it - who the starred in it, who directed it, the names of characters; nothing. Thanks to this lack of knowledge, I thankfully had no expectations either way towards the film. I think that worked towards the film's favour. Let me say this, I do recommend this movie and like it quite a bit but I think I would have been extremely disappointed if I had even the slightest expectations. So if you haven't seen the film, I recommend it just don't go in expecting greatness or mediocrity.
Movies like this are, to me, concept movies. They thrive of their unique and interesting concept or gimmick and then use that as a crutch. That is why the concept for this movie is a great one and the reason it has inspired works such as All You Need Is Kill(Edge of Tomorrow). The story surrounding this idea is also pretty decent. We follow our protagonist through possibly decades worth of the same day, with a new focus every once and a while. We see him utilise this gift/curse to learn new skills and try to perfect the day. This is the most interesting part of the film for me. The concept of achieving a perfect day. Reliving a day over and over and over again for eternity until you complete it with no error or flaw is fascinating.
Bill Murray is great as Phil and succeeds spectacularly at showing the growth of his character. Andie MacDowel was pretty weak as Rita for me and I didn't buy anything she did or said. I did, however, buy into the romance between the two slowly building over the course of a possibly decade. Even if it did feel slightly manipulative, I did definitely see the connection building over the course of the the film.
The cinematography and editing for the film is perfectly passable and looks fine.
The movie was pretty funny and it's on the upper half of comedies that I've seen. The dramatic moments also work pretty well and are effectively utilised for full emotional impact. If I had one main flaw with the film, it is the very boring and uninteresting first 20 minutes. I'll make an estimate and say the film begins to get good around the point he sees the benefits of this gift/curse.
Honestly, I will recommend you see this movie just don't expect the second coming of Christ. I'll rate this film 7 Perfect Days out of 10.