Groundhog Day

Copyright 2009, Columbia Pictures

There's a scene in 1993's classic comedy Groundhog Day that helps solidify its status as one of the best ever, and certainly the film with Bill Murray's finest performance. Phil Connors (Murray), a once-jerky Pittsburgh TV weatherman stuck repeating February 2nd over and over in the small town of Punxsutawney, PA, is in the local diner. Sitting next to him is Rita (Andie MacDowell), his folksy producer. He's gone through Groundhog Day thousands of times, and is now telling her the truth. To prove it, he walks her through the diner, pointing out incredibly personal morsels of various patrons' and waitresses' lives. Then, he sways Rita by predicting when her cameraman, Larry (Chris Elliott), will enter the diner and what he will say.

So the scene keeps going, and Phil and Rita spend the entire day together, talking and becoming far closer than she, at least, could have ever predicted in so short a time. That night, they lie on his hotel bed and, as she falls asleep, he bares his soul and reveals his feelings for her. He loves her and always has, even if he's afraid to admit it now. She's been groggy the entire time, but wakes up at the very end of his monologue to wish him a good night. He nods and then slowly falls asleep. The clock buzzes and...it's still February 2nd. Rita is gone and will have no memory of what happened. Most movies would end here, present a schmaltzy romantic climax and send Phil and Rita off into the February 3rd sunrise. Not this film.

What makes this movie work so well still, after over 15 years? Yes, having Bill Murray in peak form, snarky even when he reforms, helps magnificently, as does the expert yet understated Harold Ramis at the helm as director. But there's something else, something universal. It's not just that everyone wonders, once or twice, what it would be like to go back and live a day over again. It's the stages that Phil goes through that relates to us. He goes from denial to frustration to hedonism to suicide to acceptance. Phil takes a long time to accept the town he's surrounded by, even after he knows all its secrets. Before then, we can only marvel, even in the dark moments, about what Phil's doing. Wouldn't we all love to do things more than once? Wouldn't we want to perfect our skills at something? And wouldn't we, after a time, want to kill ourselves from the monotony of doing it all over again?

Despite that section of the movie where Phil tries to kill himself to finish everything going on again and again, Groundhog Day is one of those great movies that you can always go back to. If, one day, February 2nd became a day when TBS or TNT showed this film for 24 hours straight, much like A Christmas Story on Christmas Day, would it surprise you? This film is like a warm blanket, something comfortable to put on. We laugh at Phil's initial irritation at the Punxsutawney locals, we chuckle at his foolish choices, we very nearly cry as he falls in love with a woman who can't fall in love with him. Murray pulls it off, proving here, for the first time, of his capability as a dramatic actor. The comedy's easy, but his calm yet firm begging to Rita--"Please believe me. You have to believe me."--is what silences us into realization that, in the second act of his career, Bill Murray found his calling as a great actor.

Even though it won't be another year before I watch Groundhog Day again, I'll still find new things to love and cherish the old, whether it's Ned "Bing!" Ryerson, the diner scenes, or the snow angels. As silly as the holiday may be, Groundhog Day is worth celebrating for this movie alone.