January 27, 2001

• Groundhog Day – movie, 5 stars

  
  

  Groundhog Day is a brilliant movie in many, many ways.
  
  First, a brief summary of the plot: Some unexplained force forces a disgruntled and cynical weatherman to relive one day — a visit to Punxsutawney, PA on Groundhog Day — over and over again.
  
  The cast: Bill Murray is Phil Connors, a snobbish and deeply cynical weatherman for the local news; Andie MacDowell is Rita, the beautiful, sweet and kind television producer who works with Phil; and Chris Elliott is Larry, a goofy television camera operator.
  
  Why I love this film:
  
  * Wholly original premise. Unlike so many other hackneyed Holywood stories, Groundhog Day works with a wholly original premise that surprises the viewer in every scene. It’s hilarious to watch how Phil reacts to living the same events over and over. We see Phil first react with disbelief, until he realizes he can abuse his “power” for personal gain. The use of judicious film splicing results in some of the funniest scenes in the movie, when we watch Phil “replay” life and finetune his schtick to steal money and seduce women. Eventually, Phil changes his ways, as he alters the entire way he approaches life.
  
  * Great romantic comedy. Director Harold Ramis — Doctor Egon Spengler of Ghostbusters, director of cult-hit Caddyshack, and a cameo in the film as a neurologist — proved his comedic genius again by leveraging a great script and a cast with magical chemistry. You truly come to care about the characters, as you appreciate the great traits of Andie MacDowell’s Rita, and watch the emotional blossoming of Bill Murray’s Phil. There is an element of the “Beauty and the Beast” story to Phil’s relationship with and courtsip of Rita, and Ramis uses this dynamic to deliver more than the Hollywood cliche of Boy Meets/Gets Girl.
  
  * Philosophical message. Camus’s Myth of Sisyphus asks how one would react if you were the mythical Greek Sisyphus who had been cursed to roll a rock up a hill for eternity. Would you despair and commit suicide, find religion, or somehow find meaning in an essentially meanlingless task? Amazing, this romantic comedy manages to address this esoteric philosophical qusetion! In a very concrete way, the movie deals with this question. Listen to this dialogue from early on in the film:
  
  Phil to drunk blue-collar guy: What would you do, if you were stuck in one place, and every day was exactly the same, and nothing you did mattered.
  
  Drunk blue-collar guy: That about sums it up for me.
  
  True to Camus’s example, a cynical Phil initially tires of his life-treadmill, and despairs. He tries to commit suicide by electrocuting himself, jumping off a building, driving off a cliff, stepping in front of a truck, and other macabre methods. But even death doesn’t prevent his life from resetting every day to the morning of Groundhog Day. Over time, Phil tries other more subtle forms of suicide, as he tries to drown an eternity of time in a hedonistic splurge, as he gluttonously eats doughnuts, pursues sex, and engages in anti-rational violence. Eventually, though, he discards those indulgences as an incomplete way to live life, and learns to use his access to an eternity of free time to improve himself, as he reads poetry, learns how to ice-sculpt and play jazz piano, and saves lives. Meanwhile, his entire philosophyl changes from being self-centered and hypocritical to being passionately selfless and sincere in his approach to living life every day.
  
  Carpe Diem!
  
  * DVD issues. The transfer to DVD was excellent (no video artifacts), and the widescreen shots are great (no annoying pan-and-scans). My only wish would be for “specials”, like out-takes, cast interviews, commentary by the director, and the like.
  
  Overall. I highly recommend this movie. Amazingly, even though there are necessarily many similar takes of various scenes, I have thoroughly enjoyed rewatching this DVD many times. A true classic, and a must for anyone’s DVD collection.

  • 12:24 pm
  • 9 Comments