Peak Bill Murray

Rating: 7/10 (8 April 2020)

While I do think many people go overboard with their praise of this movie, Groundhog Day is nevertheless a highly inventive quirky comedy and features one of Bill Murray's best performances. I feel like this could potentially have been a massive flop had anyone other than Murray been cast in the lead role, especially given that his co-star Andie MacDowell is completely devoid of charm in every role she plays. Murray is as dry and biting as ever but still manages to make us fall in love with Phil Connors and feel every inch of his anguish, despair and humility.
I do find the underlying premise a bit disconcerting, however. The idea that Connors has to achieve some kind of moral perfection in order to win the heart of a fairly uninteresting woman so that he can be freed from his purgatory is, at best, a little odd and at worst, quite grotesque. I really wish he had broken free from Groundhog Day on his own, with his romantic future still undetermined.
Regardless, this is one of those films you just need to watch at least once in your life. A nineties classic, with Bill Murray at his best.