rare morality in film

Rating: Null/10 (22 February 1999)

Groundhog Day is wonderful for its comedy, but its lesson of morality is timeless.
Hearkening to Kubrick's (and Burgess's) A Clockwork Orange, Groundhog Day provides singular insight toward the human dilemma of what it means to be good.
Goodness cannot be forced by authority, was the lesson from Alex and his Droogs. Phil Connnors teaches us that acts of altruism must be performed for the sake of altruism -- not for any material or personal gain. Kindness, self-improvement, sincerity... these are rewards in and of themselves. Murray's comic wit and deadpan face imparts this message with more warmth than any actor has before or since.
When you forget what it means to be selfless, Groundhog Day should be the movie in your VCR.