An extremely ambitious, intelligent comedy that nails everything it aims at

Rating: 10/10 (1 October 2019)

I'm not a fan of romantic comedies in general, but Groundhog Day is the exception. In my opinion, it is a cinematic masterpiece.
This movie transcends simply being "guy meets girl, guy loves girl" or "obnoxious guy becomes good" and touches on the complex themes of existentialism, nihilism, depression, love, morality and the nature of life.
Lofty stuff for a comedy about a weather man! In fact, Groundhog Day's aspirations are so ambitious, it's really quite amazing that the film manages to pull off everything it goes for note-perfectly.
The jokes are consistently funny, the acting is consistently good, the characters are consistently likeable and interesting and every scene is watchable. There is not one part of the movie I find boring or laboured, which given the mix of comedy and pathos is very impressive.
The repetition of the film, which could so easily be tedious or overplayed, is in fact brilliantly done too. Repeated scenes are used both as a dark reprise (as when we see Murray staring with cold contempt at the sinister looping clock by his bed) and for humour (when we see Murray leaping out of bed and smugly echoing the same radio clock).
Best of all, such an outlandish plot feels believable thanks to the great acting by Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.
When Murray's character Phil ever-so-slowly begins to mellow and mature, and then tells MacDowell that he loves her when she's asleep, we *feel* it.
It could so easily just be a cheesy "I love you" scene, but seeing Murray subtly convey this sleazy and insincere man having a genuine change of heart and showing true love towards someone works entirely as a heavy emotional moment.
Unlike many other movies that attempt it, Groundhog Day also juggles varying emotional tone with real skill. Phil's situation flits between funny to heartbreaking to funny again several times throughout and at no point does it feel fake, schmaltzy or exploitative, due to the strong script. The way the film handles the topic of suicide is a perfect example.
In one scene Phil kills himself with a toaster and it's a darkly amusing laugh out loud, almost absurd moment.
Right in the next scene we see him throwing himself off a building and instead of the funny treatment, we get a fade into sombre music and a poignant slow-mo shot of him falling through the air, as the film suddenly shifts gear.
In this moment the film respectfully portrays the same act of suicide in a way that sells us the desperation and sadness of Phil's situation. The clever nature of the toaster scene then becomes apparent - it gets the absurdity of Phil's ineffective suicide out of the way quickly, so the repeat scene right after with the building can pack a big emotional punch instead of a comic one.
Anyway I've rambled long enough. All you need to know is that this film is fantastic, and you should see it if you haven't already.