Groundhog Day (1993) * * *

Directed by:  Harold Ramis

Starring:  Bill Murray, Andie McDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky, Brian Doyle-Murray

Phil Connors is a Pittsburgh TV weatherman who detests being assigned to cover the annual Groundhog Day festival in Punxsutawney, PA.     He can barely conceal his disdain as he condescendingly reports on the festivities.     He simply wants to do the broadcast and bolt out of town as quickly as humanly possible.    An approaching blizzard has other ideas.     Not only does the blizzard keep Connors in town, he is forced (by reasons never revealed) to relive the same day over and over again.     Phil is the only one who knows he is repeating the same day.     Everyone else thinks they are living in the now.

This sets the stage for Groundhog Day, which delves into the gimmicky premise and draws out warm laughs and spot-on observational humor.      A lesser comedy would have allowed Phil to determine why he is forced to relive the same day and figure out a way to "beat it" somehow.     Groundhog Day is more intrigued by what Phil can learn about himself through his ordeal.

Bill Murray stars as Phil, who shares the same first name as the famed groundhog.     I am sure this is not coincidental.      Phil slowly realizes he has not woken up on February 3, but is stuck on February 2.     He thinks he is in a bad dream.     To him, spending one more second in Punxsutawney than is absolutely necessary is hell on Earth.      But no matter what, he must live February 2 over continuously on a seemingly endless loop.      He is at first despaired by this reality, but then he learns to have sly fun with it.     He can eat what he wants, act as he wants, and if he messes up he can start over again the next day with everyone else being none the wiser.      For a time, he revels in the freedom from consequences.     He tells Rita (McDowell), his long-suffering producer to whom he is attracted, "I think I am a god, not the God."     Phil even sees that suicide attempts are pointless since he will simply wake up at 6:00am to repeat the day yet again.

Why is Phil forced to relive this day in this very town?    Groundhog Day wisely sidesteps why this happens and instead examines how Phil can finally figure out his way to February 3.     Phil comes to terms with his true nature as a selfish bastard and slowly begins to make changes.     He learns to truly love and care for others.     February 2 acts as his purgatory in a way.     The movie is not bogged down in any cosmic significance.     Phil has to change his ways much in the way Scrooge had to change his in order to escape his terrible fate. 

The film is a comedy and maintains a sweet, gentle tone even as Phil is driving his pickup truck off of cliffs.     Murray does not play Phil as a completely insufferable jerk, but someone who allows his selfish nature to come out way more often than it should.      We sense he can be redeemed and we are happy that he will be.    I also enjoy the byplay between he and his long-suffering co-workers Rita and Larry (Elliott), who as his cameraman is used to Phil's prima donna ways.    ("Did he call himself The Talent?")    They know he can be a churl, but they like him anyway.     So do we, which is why the movie works.