Groundhog Day movie review
Groundhog Day is a 1993 comedy distributed by Columbia Pictures. Some of its stars include Bill Murray as Phil Connors, Andie MacDowell as Rita, Chris Elliott as Larry, Stephen Tobolowsky as Ned, Brian Doyle-Murray as Buster, and Marita Geraghty as Nancy. The film is produced by Trevor Albert (Multiplicity), CO Erickson (Project X), Harold Ramis (Year One) and Whitney White (Stuart Saves His Family). The director is Harold Ramis.
The story begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but soon moves to Punxsutawney, home of the world-famous groundhog. Phil Connors is a narcissistic weatherman from Pittsburgh who hates going to the small town every year to cover the festival. When he finishes, he can’t wait to leave until one year he can’t because of a snow storm. He returns to his bed and breakfast to retire for the night. When he wakes up the next morning, he gets a shock. Apparently yesterday never happened. Phil doesn’t believe it until he leaves and discovers that the same people are in the same places as the day before. Waking up the next morning, listening to the same song “I got you, babe” on the radio, the vain weatherman begins to think that he is going crazy. As the day repeats itself over and over again, Phil tries everything from living life without worrying about the consequences to committing suicide, but nothing works. He is apparently trapped in a time warp.
That a man like Phil Connors lives a day that he despises over and over again may have been a message from the “man upstairs.” He could have been telling Phil that the universe doesn’t revolve around him and that he should start treating other people and himself better. Eventually, Phil gets this message and starts treating other people better. He starts hanging around Punxsutawney doing favors for complete strangers like when he changes a car tire with some old ladies inside. Also, the weatherman saves Buster Green, the organizer of the Groundhog Day festivities, when he nearly drowns. Also, he tries to improve himself by learning some hobbies like ice sculpture, playing the piano, and studying poetry.
One supporting character I found particularly interesting was Phil’s cameraman, Larry, played by Chris Elliott. Larry always makes jokes at Phil’s expense, especially when he claims how good he is. You could say that the cameraman was the only person who tried to keep Phil grounded. Larry makes a joke at the beginning of the movie after Phil says that many networks are interested in him. He says, “Yeah, that would be the Home Shopping Network!” When they arrive at the hotel, Phil compliments Rita, the producer, on her ability to keep her talent happy. After the smug weatherman gets into the van, Larry says, “Did he just call himself the talent?” Later, Rita tells Larry that there may be something “really wrong with Phil,” to which the cameraman replies, “There’s a lot of things really wrong with Phil.”
To conclude, I think Groundhog Day is a great family movie that all viewers, especially Bill Murray fans, would enjoy.