A famous movie critic was asked what movie deserves to last 100 years, and he said "Groundhog Day"

Rating: 10/10 (11 March 2020)

A famous movie critic (who evidently wasn't famous enough for me to remember his name, sorry folks) picked "Groundhog Day" as the film most deserving to speak for our society 100 years from now. Director Harold Ramis humbly mentions this in the DVD interview before playing off the honor as essentially a happy mistake. He had no intent or expectation of making anything greater than a whimsical fantasy romcom. He definitely succeeded at making a wonderful romcom, but the more I think about it, the movie critic has a great point and if this flick is indeed the only 20th century film to survive a zombie apocalypse or two, hey I'm not complaining.
Cleverly disguised as a breezy fantasy what-if comedy, "Groundhog Day" gives us a provocative allegory that would have Plato, Confucius, Buddha & Rod Serling scratching their collective heads and slapping their collective knees at the same time. The story is about a selfish louse "Phil" (Bill Murray) who finds himself trapped in a bizarre loop, living the same day over & over.
Buddhists, Hasidic Jews, Hindus and Gnostics alike have agreed that this as a wonderful illustration of how reincarnation works (and hey any movie that can get all the religions to agree on something is pretty impressive). Meanwhile psychologists widely applaud this as a fine example of how psychoanalysis & treatment work by revisiting our memories and hopefully learning from them each iteration. Economists have published papers relating Groundhog Day to advanced concepts of "equilibrium economics". And last but not least, audiences the world over say this is a hilarious flick. The reason why I've dwelled on all this heady gobbledygook, rather than the plot, is just to entice and prepare you for a masterpiece.
Ok if you're still with me, let's talk about the actual movie already. "Phil" is stuck living the same day over & over, and at the same time he's pursuing his love/lust interest "Rita" (Andie McDowell). Can you guess the problem? Yes, if every day resets & repeats itself in 24 hours, that means he has 24 hours to seduce the chick. He tries everything, but for some reason it never seems to work. At the same time, on a deep spiritual level (though Phil is about as spiritually inclined as a damp sponge) he begins to wonder what's the point of doing anything if everything amounts to the same reset/rewind. Phil goes through almost every emotion & philosophy in the book: hedonism, narcissism, nihilism, existentialism, fear, pleasure, rage, and--quite convincingly--a deep depression which Bill Murray pulls off perfectly without sacrificing the momentum of the comedy.
Ultimately our protagonist "Phil" becomes the amalgamation of the human spirit, in all its triumphs, tragedies, arrogance and confusion. Watch this movie, and in between wiping back tears of laughter, you just may agree with that movie critic who says "Groundhog Day" is a film that should survive for the next 100 years.