A simple tale that conceals surprising depth and meaning

Rating: 10/10 (19 October 2012)

"Groundhog Day" is a rare case of audiences actually being ahead of the critics. When this superficially simple tale of a self-obsessed weatherman (Bill Murray) who is forced to relive the same day over and over again was initially released, most critics, even the best, completely missed this movie's subtle and intricate take on the vagaries of life. They followed only its simple premise, slapstick humour and the great, sarcastic shadow of Bill Murray, who, as always, dominates every scene. Audiences, however, immediately took to it. Despite being released (appropriately) in February, the famine period of the movie calendar, "Groundhog Day" went on to gross over $70 million and became a sleeper hit later on video. Soon, the phrase "It's like Groundhog Day" began passing from mouth to mouth as a descriptor for any number of human situations, and Groundhog Day was better recognised as a metaphor than as a holiday. Today, "Groundhog Day" is recognised by the AFI and the Writer's Guild of America.
That "Groundhog Day" works on all the levels it does is not necessarily due to conscious action on the part of the writers (Harold Ramis and John Rubin), who focus primarily on delivering a sharp and witty script that fully explores every comic (and later, tragic) outcome of its premise, but because its premise, so utterly simple, is also marvelously applicable to an almost endless array of life experiences. In that sense, it is like a fairy tale or a myth: a universal story that manages to capture something essential in the human experience. For example, there is very little overt religious symbolism in the film, and yet representatives of several entirely different religions have drawn parallels between the story and the tenets of their faith. Buddhists see Murray's character's dilemma as a representation of the cycle of rebirth, while Catholics see it as Purgatory. In truth, as the film itself notes, *everyone* feels trapped in an endlessly repeating cycle of identical days for at least part of their lives, and so is free to read it as applies to them.
Beyond this though, it really is quite astounding how perfect this little film is; how annoying characters we wouldn't give the time of day to in the street suddenly become fully fleshed out comic creations, simply because we took the time to see them properly. How every bland suburban street reveals turn-of-the-century architectural gems that our eyes would have passed over on first viewing, and how beautiful the sky can look on a cold February morning.