Bill Murray
stars as a weatherman forced to
relive the same day over and
over in this 1993 movie. Bonuses:
interview, featurette, deleted
scenes, documentary, commentary.
Frank Capra meets Rod Serling in
this high-concept comedy that
thoroughly
follows through on its premise.
As a cynical weatherman, Phil
Connors (Bill Murray) finds
himself trapped by a blizzard he
failed to predict and doomed to
repeat the worst day of his life
over and over again. At first he
is horrified at the prospect of
living forever in the small town
of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania,
home of the groundhog, but
eventually he must discover the
key to moving his life forward.
Once again, for the fifth year
in a row, TV weatherman Phil
Connors (Bill Murray) is forced
to cover the Groundhog Day
ceremonies in Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania, an assignment he
truly despises. But this year
something truly bizarre happens
after he finishes the report:
When he wakes up the next
morning, ready to leave, he
discovers it's February 2 all
over again. He tries to tell his
producer, Rita (Andie MacDowell),
what's happening, but neither
she nor anyone else understands;
only he remembers that they've
already lived through Groundhog
Day. When the same thing happens
the next morning, he thinks he's
going insane and wreaks havoc
all through the town. More and
more mornings pass, all of them
February 2, and all of them with
an ever angrier Phil. Desperate
to escape, he even tries
suicide, but still another
February 2 dawns. As he starts
realizing that his exploits are
not making time march on any
quicker, Phil begins to change
his behavior, performing a
series of lifesaving tasks until
he becomes a model citizen,
hoping it will be enough to get
him out of Punxsutawney forever.
Along the way he learns more
about the people around him--and
himself--than he ever thought
possible. The film is extremely
well put together by director
Harold Ramis, and the script by
Danny Rubin and Ramis is sharp
and clever. The actors--many of
whom have to perform essentially
the same scene over and over
again, with only subtle
differences is a riot. |