Starring: Bill Murray, Andie McDowell
Directed by: Harold Ramis
Rating: An Adam Favorite
This is a movie about learning what life is really all about. People can argue all day that we see Phil go through all the different stages of grief or whatever they want to argue, and they may even be right. What I see, is a man slowly figure out all the ways he's living his life and how much he dislikes it.
"Groundhog Day" finds weatherman Phil Connors (Murray) sent to cover the annual Groundhog Festival in Punxsutawney, PA. He has covered the event for several years, and he doesn't much enjoy the trip. This year is going to be different, though. This year Phil will be extending his stay unexpectedly and indefinitely. Phil relives the same day over and over and over... Each time he relives it, everything is the same except what he decides to change. He quickly learns to manipulate this to his advantage, finds he can't deal with the situation and attempts suicide (several times), and finally comes to terms with it and betters himself in the process.
This is Murray at his finest, and that's a big statement for me. I am a huge Bill Murray fan, but then again, most of America is. He portrays the changes in this character so believably you have no question that the man makes a full turnaround in his outlook on life. Andie McDowell is also great as his love interest, Rita. It's really the push that she gives Phil that makes him the person he turns out to be.
The director for the film was Harold Ramis (many of you know him as Egon from the Ghostbusters). He has produced and directed lots of movies, and he still works quite a bit today. He and Murray differed a little in their take on the film. He thought the movie should be more of a comedy, and Murray wanted to focus on the philosophical meanings behind the picture. Murray's outlook on the deeper meaning was actually what the original script was more drawn toward.
There are so many great moments in the movie that I can't even begin to tell you about my single most favorite, but I haven included another popular video from the movie at the bottom of this post. One of things Phil decides to do with his time is to learn to play piano. The video below is his piano solo at the Groundhog Party toward the end of the movie. No, that is not really Murray playing piano, but it does look believable.
One of the more fun aspects of the movie to discuss is how many times Phil actually relives the day. I have seen and heard all kinds of different answers. The original script called for something outrageous like one thousand years or something. Ramis says in his commentary it's more like a few decades I believe. Which by the way, if you have the chance to watch this on blu-ray or DVD with Ramis's commentary, DO IT. His commentary is almost as funny as the movie itself. I think that in order for Phil to learn piano, ice sculpt, become fluent in french and learn all the minor details about everyone in town and the seemingly unnoticeable timing of a dog's bark, he had to have spent at least one hundred years repeating the same day.
After I went to Punxsutawney a couple of years ago to the actual festival, I always like to mention that you should not expect what's in the movie should you ever decide to go. First off, the movie wasn't shot there. Secondly, partly because of the movie, the festival is much, much larger than what you see. There are literally thousands of people standing outside in a huge mass of people like you might find at a rock concert standing at Gobbler's Knob. We couldn't even get close enough to see anything. They don't exaggerate the cold, though. It was freezing! I was really disappointed that it was SO different. I mean, I expected something different, but not that. I digress.
All in all, I think you can take a lot away from this movie. The acting is great. The cinematography is good. The directing is good. All around, this is just such a great movie. Murray is really at his best here. You can learn a lot about yourself if you want to dig in deeper, too. Even on the surface, this is a great one to watch if you've never seen it. Honestly, I'll probably come back and add to this some more in the future.
The director for the film was Harold Ramis (many of you know him as Egon from the Ghostbusters). He has produced and directed lots of movies, and he still works quite a bit today. He and Murray differed a little in their take on the film. He thought the movie should be more of a comedy, and Murray wanted to focus on the philosophical meanings behind the picture. Murray's outlook on the deeper meaning was actually what the original script was more drawn toward.
There are so many great moments in the movie that I can't even begin to tell you about my single most favorite, but I haven included another popular video from the movie at the bottom of this post. One of things Phil decides to do with his time is to learn to play piano. The video below is his piano solo at the Groundhog Party toward the end of the movie. No, that is not really Murray playing piano, but it does look believable.
One of the more fun aspects of the movie to discuss is how many times Phil actually relives the day. I have seen and heard all kinds of different answers. The original script called for something outrageous like one thousand years or something. Ramis says in his commentary it's more like a few decades I believe. Which by the way, if you have the chance to watch this on blu-ray or DVD with Ramis's commentary, DO IT. His commentary is almost as funny as the movie itself. I think that in order for Phil to learn piano, ice sculpt, become fluent in french and learn all the minor details about everyone in town and the seemingly unnoticeable timing of a dog's bark, he had to have spent at least one hundred years repeating the same day.
After I went to Punxsutawney a couple of years ago to the actual festival, I always like to mention that you should not expect what's in the movie should you ever decide to go. First off, the movie wasn't shot there. Secondly, partly because of the movie, the festival is much, much larger than what you see. There are literally thousands of people standing outside in a huge mass of people like you might find at a rock concert standing at Gobbler's Knob. We couldn't even get close enough to see anything. They don't exaggerate the cold, though. It was freezing! I was really disappointed that it was SO different. I mean, I expected something different, but not that. I digress.
All in all, I think you can take a lot away from this movie. The acting is great. The cinematography is good. The directing is good. All around, this is just such a great movie. Murray is really at his best here. You can learn a lot about yourself if you want to dig in deeper, too. Even on the surface, this is a great one to watch if you've never seen it. Honestly, I'll probably come back and add to this some more in the future.
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