Groundhog Day was one of Harold Ramis' best movies as director

Rating: 9/10 (3 November 2014)

So after 21 years of only hearing about this movie (though when I worked at a movie theatre at the time, I did manage to watch a few scenes here and there), I finally got to see the whole thing on Netflix disc with my mom who hadn't seen this when it was first released either. She was confused part of the time but she seemed to enjoy it while I knew about the living-the-same-day-over premise the whole time. It's funny seeing Bill Murray at first taking advantage of what he can get away with in going back to what it was before and then experiencing some depression in not going forward before redeeming himself in the process. Andie MacDowell is luminous as his eventual love interest. Chris Elliott has some moments near the end. Bill's brother Brian Doyle-Murray is appropriately boisterous as the groundhog spokesman. And Stephan Tobolowsky is a hoot as this Ned fellow Bill keeps encountering. Harold Ramis did fine as director and co-writer and he provides a nice commentary track on the DVD. Since he died earlier in the year, this review is dedicated in his memory.