One heck of a Groundhog Day

Rating: 8/10 (30 August 2007)

Groundhog Day: the story of one man caught seemingly in a never-ending time warp that constantly repeats itself on February 2nd. While the premise of the film is very appealing and original as well as the bulk of the movie itself, I think it falls a bit short of landing a spot in the top 250.
The first 20 minutes or so details what we are going to be seeing for quite awhile in the movie. It develops a sarcastic man named Phil, played hilariously by Bill Murray. He's guy who pretty much hates everything, and he's covering Groundhog Day in Pux-a-something, in which everything is horrible. He is even stuck in this town because of a blizzard, so he's forced to return to his dreaded town, and eventually fall asleep.
Once Phil wakes up, he immediately notices the same song playing and two idiots attempting to make the weather report they made yesterday. Everything outside is the same, the same events begin happening, and his worst fears are realized when a lady confirms it is Groundhog Day. He lives throughout the day trying to solve this problem, and eventually, must stay in the town again (the blizzard once again has trapped him here).
The next day it happens again. And every time it happens, it creates more laughs. Fortunately, the director knew when to stop in order not to tire itself out, and the events would be altered based on Phil's reactions to everything.
It is once the formula is changed, sadly, where humor is not as consistent. While there is certainly a great deal of it and even a hilarious suicidal montage, the film has lost its steam and traveling at an average-comedy pace. Towards the end, the film transitions finally into more of a drama. Why? I'll get into that a bit later.
Over the course of the film we see Phil's personality making drastic and eventual changes. First he freaks out about Groundhog's Day, then becomes even more of a jerk by using the day to his advantage. But his daily wants and needs cause him to feel pain and misery for awhile, and he still sees no way out. It is only when a girl he likes offers him indirect advice that he begins an ascent in his perspective of life and a change in himself.
The transition begins when Phil becomes selfless, and even though it doesn't have the tone of a drama, Phil seems to be more serious about things. It's kind of sad, though, because all the humor was working well.
There's really not much more to say about Groundhog Day. It's a good film that should be viewed by everyone. It is most plausible in its comedic moments and still pretty good in its more serious moments; some of those moments are even rather touching, and those serious moments are worthy of commendation. In the end, I'd have to give this film a 7.6/10. It's good but loses steam after about 40 or so minutes with only one other quick train of top-notch humor.