Funny, imaginative and good-natured comedy

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2015)

Weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is sent to cover the annual Groundhog Day Event in which a Groundhog is used to predict what kind of weather is to be expected. Phil is generally cynical about this event and vows that this will be the last year that he'll be covering the event. However, after 'covering' the event Phil wakes up at 6 o'clock the next morning (and every morning thereafter) and finds himself living the same day over and over again.
On paper, Groundhog Day really shouldn't have worked anywhere near as well as it did. The premise of having a weatherman reliving the same day over and over again could have been a monotonous bore in the wrong hands, but Ramis and co really make the most of the premise meaning that it generally works well on every level.
I think what makes this film works so well is that the writers really went to town in an attempt to explore as many possibilities (both good and bad) of living each day exactly the same as the previous one. As a result of living the same day every day Phil inevitably goes through various emotional stages - denial, anger, frustration, depression, acceptance. Each aspect of the story is handled well by Ramis and co and no aspect stays longer than is necessary.
The script is good here, but so too are the performances from MacDowell and Murray. Murray has the difficult task of taking his character through each of the various emotional stages and gives a very convincing performance throughout. MacDowell is also good, but she isn't given quite as much to work with. Together though,their chemistry was fantastic and given the journey that they'd shared together I actually found myself believing in their blossoming romance (this is coming from someone who normally gags when they watch anything romantic). Groundhog Day also has a lot of heart to it as well and for this reason it is a very likable film.
As well as all of the above and perhaps most importantly the film also remembers to have lots of fun with its imaginative premise - the scene where Phil was driving with the Groundhog was genius. Whilst this film is never laugh out loud funny there were still plenty of amusing moments.
Are there any problems here? Well yes, but they are only minor.... The central plot sees Phil living the same day as the last and whilst it is very funny for the most part actually seeing the same scenes being repeated over and over again does get a bit tedious at times - although there are slight variances in each of the repetitions so it's not a major problem. The insurance guy was also really annoying, but he's only in a couple of scenes so again this wasn't a major problem.
It's a testament to Ramis and Co as writers that they've managed to create a film about a man living a seemingly monotonous existence and flesh it out to create a charming, funny, imaginative and rather insightful piece of work. Not many films leave me with a smile on my face at the end, but this one did.