Bill Murray Phil Connors
Andie McDowell Rita
Chris Elliott Larry
Brian Doyle-Murray Buster Green
Stephen Tobolowsky Ned Ryerson
It’s the middle of February and the townspeople of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania are all getting ready to see if their beloved Phil the groundhog will grace them with an early spring or burden them with six more weeks of winter. Phil Connors is on location with his crew chief Rita and cameraman Larry to capture all the action live since everyone is so excited for it. Well, everyone except Phil himself. And it doesn’t make matters any better to know that he and the iconic groundhog have the same name.
The day rolls on and Phil is simply ready to get the hell out of dodge and back home where he belongs. Some winter storms keep them stranded for one more night but Phil thinks one more night would be an eternity, and he’s right. Phil then proceeds to live the exact same day over and over again and there is nothing he can do about it. The other big problem is that even though everyone else is repeating the day with him, they don’t realize it. And if he manages to convince anyone he’s correct and not crazy, then come the next day he has to start all over again.
As would be expected, depression sets in and Phil will do anything to end his misery. This is another little obstacle that stands in his way. He wants to end his life because what use is there in living the same experiences every single day when nothing can advance from it or ever change? Phil thinks ending his life is the only way to finally be over with this horribly long day. Electrocuting himself, standing in front a speeding truck, diving off a bell tower, and any other method of suicide he can think of Phil attempts but only to wake up in his bed the next morning on the same day. He even goes as far as to kidnap Phil the groundhog and drive off a cliff to their fiery death, but Sonny and Cher are welcoming him to a new/old day just a few hours later.
Even though he knows there is no use to trying to convince anyone he’s right. It’s the faint spirit of love inside Phil that makes him still attempt to get someone to believe him. And that someone ends up being Rita, the woman he falls for but can never get her to fall for him because once he finally proves he’s not an asshole; she wakes up seeing him as the two-faced egotistical bigot he always has been. Phil will do anything to win her love though, even if it means going through the same turmoil and torment for all of time.
Groundhog Day is one of those films that doesn’t necessarily belong to any genre. It is a comedy. It is a drama. It is a romance. And it rolls everything into one film of complete perfection. The storyline goes from Phil learning his lesson and realizing that life is too short to be nothing but bitter and angry towards everyone all the way to a love story between him and Rita. Throw in the fifty million bits of comedic genius throughout the film and there is not one second of its entire duration that is not enjoyable.
This film found its place onto Roger Ebert’s greatest movies in cinematic history and rightfully so. It is flawless in so many ways, that anyone could enjoy it even after watching it countless times. I dare to check out Groundhog Day and try to find some flaws with the repeated actions done by the actors everyday. I have sat there myself and tried to find them messing up but to no avail. Sure there are probably a few scenes that were dubbed in as repeats, but you have to realize that everyday Bill Murray had to be different. That means that whoever is in the scenes with him had to do the exact same thing every single time. Thos people my friends, were professionals and good at what they do.
I’m not one to agree with most critics and most especially Roger Ebert. I look at his list of the greatest movies in cinematic history and disagree with probably more then half of what is on there. He usually rips the films that have much merit to shreds and goes after what should be a socially unaccepted film and has some type of message in it. But then with Groundhog Day, Ebert chose a film that not only wasn’t a box office blockbuster or some kind of life-changing film, but one that was actually good. He saw the brilliance that is Bill Murray and the excellence that is the storyline of the film and realized they made for perfection. Not only does it belong on the list, but it deserves to be near the top of the list because it is one that will be viewed for all of eternity and still seem brand new.
