movie review - Groundhog Day
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
I rented this one with my mum and my new girlfriend after the g/f and I had gone on at some length to rave about Bill Murray's performance in 'Lost in Translation'. I'd first seen 'Groundhog Day' years ago when it first came out, and thought that it would be worth another look.
It was. And it wasn't. For one thing, it was a lot more schmaltzy than I remember it. No small town is idyllic. Sorry, but that small town magic doesn't resonate with anyone who's lived in a variety of small towns. Also, Andie McDowell's limitations as an actress come out in this one, which is strange because her role was rather one-dimensional.
Still, it's plot contains a great idea - a miserable bastard (played by Murray, of course) is stuck reliving the same day, over and over and over again. That day is Groundhog Day, for which he's come to Punxhawhatsit in Pennsylvania. He just wakes up on Groundhog Day no matter what he tries (and he tries everything). The concept is explored quite nicely - there's no reason for his being stuck there, and there's no character appearing in a white suit to explain it. It just is.
Being a romantic comedy, it's fairly easy to see how he's supposed to get out of the mess, but even that doesn't get too weighted down. Instead, it seems that it's the change in him that sets him free, not his ability to win McDowell's heart.
Recommended.