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Day 67: July 6th, 2010
Groundhog Day
He's having the worst day of his life... over, and over...
There are tons of people who have that one movie that they can watch over and over again and never really get sick of it. I'm sure there are dozens here that have a few movies like that and I'm one of them. Groundhog Day fits into this category for me.
Bill Murray shines in the role of Phil, a man who hates everything and everyone around him (big stretch) but he falls into some kind of time loop while in Punxsutawney, PA covering the groundhog story. He is literally living this one day, which he hates, over and over again until he looks at his life from a different perspective.
The lack of reveal as to why this is happening is perfect, we don't need to know the whys or the hows, everything is just happening. Phil goes through the motions of slowly getting things as the same day happens again and again. It's hard to have something be so repetitive and yet still be fresh. Groundhog Day handles this problem with ease, making certain events either hilarious (him trying to pick up his new producer) or heartbreaking (he tries to save a homeless man from dying). Eventually Phil does snap out of his loner attitude and cheers everyone up that is around him.
It is never stated how long this time loop is for in the film, but a counting man will see there are 34 some odd depictions of a different day. If you were to listen to a certain director's commentary track you will learn it went on a lo longer than that.
The film is funny, fresh and original. Interesting to see that one of their best collaborations (Ramis & Murray) was their last, not including video games or yet to be released third incarnations of a ghostbusting series. They had a falling out over the tone of the film. One wanted a more philosophical approach, while the other wanted a comedic one. While I'm glad they settled on the comedic one, you can't help but see that there is a mixture of both.
Groundhog Dog is a great film, one of the best comedies ever and is great to watch, over...and over.....and over....
Groundhog Day
He's having the worst day of his life... over, and over...
There are tons of people who have that one movie that they can watch over and over again and never really get sick of it. I'm sure there are dozens here that have a few movies like that and I'm one of them. Groundhog Day fits into this category for me.
Bill Murray shines in the role of Phil, a man who hates everything and everyone around him (big stretch) but he falls into some kind of time loop while in Punxsutawney, PA covering the groundhog story. He is literally living this one day, which he hates, over and over again until he looks at his life from a different perspective.
The lack of reveal as to why this is happening is perfect, we don't need to know the whys or the hows, everything is just happening. Phil goes through the motions of slowly getting things as the same day happens again and again. It's hard to have something be so repetitive and yet still be fresh. Groundhog Day handles this problem with ease, making certain events either hilarious (him trying to pick up his new producer) or heartbreaking (he tries to save a homeless man from dying). Eventually Phil does snap out of his loner attitude and cheers everyone up that is around him.
It is never stated how long this time loop is for in the film, but a counting man will see there are 34 some odd depictions of a different day. If you were to listen to a certain director's commentary track you will learn it went on a lo longer than that.
The film is funny, fresh and original. Interesting to see that one of their best collaborations (Ramis & Murray) was their last, not including video games or yet to be released third incarnations of a ghostbusting series. They had a falling out over the tone of the film. One wanted a more philosophical approach, while the other wanted a comedic one. While I'm glad they settled on the comedic one, you can't help but see that there is a mixture of both.
Groundhog Dog is a great film, one of the best comedies ever and is great to watch, over...and over.....and over....