Feel good, and a whole lot more

Rating: 9/10 (2 October 2017)

I never thought there could be a "feelgood movie" to match 'It's A Wonderful Life'. Till now.
What's a 'feelgood movie'? A movie that, quite simply, makes you feel good. In that, feel ONLY good. Not a single bad moment. That's a high peak to ascend. 'It's A Wonderful Life' ascends it. As does 'Groundhog Day'. Or at least it comes tantalizingly close.
Like 'It's A Wonderful Life', this, too, is a fantasy film. And like 'It's A Wonderful Life', this film, too, is about goodness. Only, Jimmy Stewart, every so subtly playing George Bailey in the former, had to be SHOWN how good he WAS. Whereas Bill Murray, with a matchingly evocative depiction of Phil Connors in this, learns how good he can BECOME.
'Groundhog Day' is a purely, unabashedly spiritual film. Its premise is one that could easily have fallen flat, or become a basis for pulp kiddie fantasy fare - of an ordinary man getting stuck in a time loop where he wakes up, each day, to find it's the 2nd of February, all over again. Don't be fooled however ... that is merely the backdrop for an intensely, almost Biblically spiritual tale, of a man's transcendence - "transformation" would be too weak a word - from an intensely self-centred, unlikeable "jerk" (as he calls himself at one point), to a being of pure beauty, and goodness unalloyed. It displays how, placed in such an unenviable position, Phil traverses a gamut of emotions - from initial shock and fear, to the purely selfish realization that he can do whatever he wants without caring for the consequences, to ... well, I don't want to reveal too much - let's just say that, at first, he plays the day, and, later, the day plays him.
It's a spectacular, and fittingly understated, performance by Bill. It has often been opined that no other actor could have done the role, and, watching Bill, one does feel so. Andie Macdowell is, however, equally luminous, and provides the halo to Phil's God (as he, again at one point, calls himself). They complement each other perfectly, and, together, tell us a tale which can never be forgotten.
'Groundhog Day' is a cleansing, purifying experience. To call it a fantasy film - as Wikipedia does - is unfair, for it is SOOO much more.
Why I am giving it 9, instead of 10, out of 10. I don't know. But I am. Let's leave it at that.