Twenty-five years ago, the greatest comedy of all time hit theaters. That's right, with all due respect to "The Graduate" and "Some Like It Hot", Bill Murray and the late Harold Ramis constructed the most pristine pure comedy ever to come out of Hollywood, and it only took them 10,000 years. That's how long some estimate that Phil Connors was stuck in his Punxsutawney time loop, and if you can think of a more ripe comic premise, let me know. My Dad took my to see "Groundhog Day", and I immediately knew that it was far better than the genre's usual offerings, in ways that my thirteen-year old self couldn't articulate in the winter of '93. Repeat viewings on HBO and a grainy VHS recording revealed a brilliance absent in the works of Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey. The film's reputation grew as we entered the new millennium, as did my fondness for it. It's almost always the opposite when it comes to comedy. Now, I'm going to explain in great detail why you should be celebrating "Groundhog Day" at least once a year.
A great script is the impetus for every cinema classic, and Danny Rubin concocted this killer concept shortly after moving to Los Angeles in 1990. The screenplay landed on the desk of Harold Ramis the following year, and the director of "Caddyshack" and "National Lampoon's Vacation" quickly selected it as his next project. A lesser movie would have contrived a lame explanation for Phil's situation- an early version had a vengeful ex-lover laying down some kind of voodoo curse. I probably wouldn't be writing this article if that had been the case. Rubin removed such stupidity, as well as an explanatory voice-over narration that would have put Phil ahead of viewers(we should experience everything just as he does). After Tom Hanks and Michael Keaton turned it down, Ramis turned to a familiar face.
Phil is a jerk. I mean, we still like him, he's played by Bill Murray, but this weary weatherman's disdain for people that are beneath him is obvious, which in Phil's egocentric mind, is just about everyone. "GD" was a turning point, that allowed Bill to spread his wings as an ACTOR, something his old SNL running buddies Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase were either unwilling or unable to do(they'd both be removed from the A-list around this time). We buy the subtle transformation that takes place over the next 90 minutes, because Bill Murray is actually a good actor, with layers underneath his established comic persona, but we're getting ahead of ourselves...
Here's the legendarily antiquated alarm clock that Phil(and the audience) would get to know very well. Did it have to be set for 6 a.m.? Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe", which topped the charts in the summer of 1965, is a cheery anthem that hilariously contradicts Phil's personality. I've long believed that it's the little things that make a movie great. Little things become big things, and show care on the part of the filmmakers.
Stephen Tobolowsky is a good character actor, whose face turned up quite a bit in the '80s, '90s and '00s. Whenever HE gets stopped on the street, I'm certain it's because of this motor-mouthed insurance salesman that recalls his high-school days a little too enthusiastically. I'm sure we've all had encounters like this in public, with old acquaintances that are WAY more excited about getting "caught up" than we are. Well, Ned Reyerson is that guy/girl times a thousand. Social media allows such individuals to STAY in our orbit in the 21st Century, but that's a whole other subject. We see Ned five or six times, and is a prime example of an exemplary side character.
Now would be a good time to mention that "Groundhog Day" wasn't REALLY filmed in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. I know, your mind is blown, but Ramis saw it as a logistical nightmare without enough visually appealing locations. So he turned to Woodstock, Illinois, just outside of his native Chicago(Punxsutawney officials were present on the set, and were pleased with the recreation of Gobbler's Knob). Rubin cleverly chose to leave his arrogant protagonist stranded in an isolated spot on a recognized holiday that gets little-or-no-attention.
It's just a couple of flakes! Phil clearly doesn't want to stay in Punxsutawney, but a blizzard postpones his return to Pittsburgh by a couple dozen lifetimes, depending on your math skills.
Same song on the radio? Same annoying loser around the corner?? No snow??? An invincible pencil???? I think I had a nightmare shortly after my first viewing about the same relentless deja vu that Phil finds himself stuck in. Years later, I found out that's just the normal life of an adult.
Here's Ramis, playing the doctor that tells Phil that there's nothing wrong with him. It's an unfortunate irony that the Murray-Ramis partnership ended in 1992. Only Bill can explain why at this point, and it's highly unlikely that he ever will(Harold was reportedly hurt by the dissolution of their longtime friendship, but they DID meet one last time before his death in 2014). Fans of the duo hated hearing that Peter Venkman and Egon Spengler went their separate ways, professionally AND personally. Perhaps, Murray disliked sharing the credit for so much of his early success. Maybe he just became an eccentric recluse, that avoids everybody that isn't named Wes Anderson. The speculation continues.
Two local drunks(Rick Ducommun, Rick Overton) help Phil realize that his predicament isn't ALL bad. He can do whatever he wants. No hangovers, no consequences. How long would it take you to rob a bank or assault someone? I used to think that I should start living my life like every day was my last. Then I realized I'd be dead or in jail within six months. Phil doesn't have that problem.
I'd down that plate of pastries too, if cholesterol and love handles weren't a concern. An eternity without repercussions sounds like paradise once you get over the initial shock of it all. Phil is adapting to his small-town surroundings and taking advantage of every situation.
Phil zeroes in on Rita, after what we can assume was a few weeks of recklessness and debauchery. It turns out that his sunny boss is the best girl in town. Let's talk about Andie MacDowell for a minute. The ageless beauty that broke out in Steve Soderbergh's 1989 indie sensation "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" isn't exactly known for being a great actress, but she's absolutely endearing here. She conveys Rita's warmth, grace, and intelligence, and gives Phil something to strive for throughout the loop. We want him to earn his way into her heart. Ramis expertly cast his co-lead, and would employ her again, three years later in "Multiplicity".
I'm certain that I could get a girl to fall in love with me, if I only had an endless series of opportunities to figure out all of her likes and dislikes, censor myself accordingly and manufacture 'perfect' moments like this one. I guess Phil and I have something in common.
Phil learns the hard way that you can't hurry love. As amazing and in-tune with her every need as Phil seems during their well-orchestrated evening together, Rita detects the disingenuous nature of their impromptu date before things get physical. Phil knows TOO much, setting off one red flag after another. Rita could never love Phil. He only loves himself, except he doesn't even LIKE himself. What a dilemma.
It's not fun anymore. Rita won't put out(every aggressive overture ends with a slap) and it's cold every day. This is where depression sets in. Although everything is played for laughs, today's toothless studio comedies tend to avoid anything that even remotely resembles real-life emotion. God forbid anyone should feel uncomfortable. Ramis, Rubin and Murray weren't afraid to take Phil's desperation to a dark place.
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| We've all felt like doing this. |
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| Bill got bit twice during filming. |
Phil's suicides. He's been stabbed, shot, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted and burned(we don't see it all). These scenes probably wouldn't be in the movie if it were made now- just another reason to love it. Every day, he still wakes up in Mrs. Lancaster's bed & breakfast, without a dent in the fender. George Fenton's musical score is really pronounced during this sequence. The English composer was previously nominated for "Ghandi", "Dangerous Liasons", and "The Fisher King".
Phil accepts his immortality and starts hanging out with Rita again. He slowly comes to the realization that to win her over he has to become a good person with appealing qualities, rather than just pretending to be one. In retrospect, I'm convinced that quiet scenes like this one is what led to "Lost in Translation". Sophia Coppola's celebrated 2003 Oscar nominee is generally regarded as Murray's formal transition into more mature material. He traded his proton pack for serious plaudits, and is seemingly still chasing the gold he lost to Sean Penn that year. But unlike Phil, the change didn't occur overnight.
An elderly homeless man(that Phil humorously ignores earlier) is the first recipient of his Good Samaritan streak. But a hearty meal can't stop him from dying in the street. Phil learns the limits of his powers, and forges on.
So, how long was Phil in the loop? There are many theories, and no wrong answers. I once thought it was six months to a year, a very conservative guess. Ramis once concluded that it was about ten years. When pressed further, he said that it was probably closer to thirty. When taking Phil's new skills into account(piano-playing, ice-sculpting), that sounds about right. The film only shows us 38 different days, and Ramis allows our imaginations to run wild with the potential scope of it all, based on information we gather over the course of the film. Again, the mystery only makes it better.
Phil is easily the most popular guy in town, after devoting his day to 'random' good deeds- fixing a flat tire, saving a tree-climbing boy, giving the mayor(Bill's underrated brother Brian Doyle-Murray) the Heimlich maneuver. Oh, and he plays the piano about as well as Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. I don't know how he pulled those WrestleMania tickets(yes, that is Michael Shannon), but I won't question such stunning benevolence.
February 3rd finally arrives, and Rita is there to spend that day, and presumably many more, with our reformed hero. She falls for Phil's inherent goodness in the third act, because it isn't an act. He loves Punxsutawney, and all the 'hicks' he once despised. He wants to live there.
When future generations want to know what Bill Murray was all about, "Groundhog Day" is the movie that will answer that question. It's his, and Harold Ramis' best movie, and I'm certain that it will be popular for as long as people sit in front of a screen to be entertained. You can watch it as many times as Phil relives the second day of February, and still feel like it was time well spent. "It's a Wonderful Life" has some competition here. I almost hate categorizing it as a comedy, because it's so clearly superior to nearly every movie that wears that limiting label. "Groundhog" has amassed a global following, with it's title becoming a common descriptive for repetitive days and routines, and the actual festival has drawn larger crowds in the two-and-a-half decades since, than it ever did before. Chris Elliott(I really liked him in this) and that "Weatherman" theme song couldn't ruin a timeless meditation on the human condition that gives us more to ponder than a dozen dramas. "Groundhog Day" is one of the world's greatest films.
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