JOE’s Film Flashback: Groundhog Day (1993)

Bill Murray's finest moment.

They don't make them like this anymore. And why would they? You can't improve on perfection, after all, and Groundhog Day is one of the perfect comedies of the last 25 (or is it 10,000? More on that later) years. As if this article needed anything to inspire it, we came across this earlier this year. Glorious scheduling. https://twitter.com/throrgon/status/693768258802077696 Title: Groundhog Day Director: Harold Ramis Irish release: May 1993 Worldwide box office: $162,942,835 Tag Line: 'He's having the day of his life... Over and over again.' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSVeDx9fk60 Plot's it all about?  Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, an arrogant TV weatherman from Pittsburgh who is sent to cover Groundhog Day on 2 February in the small town of Punxsutawny, Pennsylvania. He finds himself in a time-loop, living the same day over and over and over and over and over (slaps self) again. Blind panic turns to opportunism turns to misery turns to resignation turns to joy, as Phil discovers that repeatedly going through the same 24 hours can have both its drawbacks and its benefits. Groundhog Day is one of those films, like The Truman Show or Big, that makes you think about what you would do as an ordinary person stuck in such exceptional circumstances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VF5P7qLaEQ Phil may use his day to convince Annie McDowell that he isn't a complete bastard, fall in love and live happily ever after*, whereas we'd probably just eat our own bodyweight in Phish Food, wash it down with some single malt whiskey, watch Back To The Future and repeat, ad nauseam. Anyway...

This is Bill Murray's finest moment.

He had already given us Ghostbusters, Scrooged and Caddyshack, but this went above and beyond anything he had done before or has done since (although, granted, Lost In Translation belongs in an alternative and untouchable dimension). He makes you want to be both as obnoxious and as lovable as Phil becomes as he gets to grips with his predicament. There are parallels with his own performance in Scrooged, and the lessons learned by Phil as he finally learns the key to getting to 3 February are similar to those taught to Ebeneezer by Charles Dickens. Murray is also one of the few actors that makes you root for him more by being an absolute curmudgeon, and like McDowell's Rita Hanson, you can't help but fall for the man.

How long does Murray's character spend in Punxsutawney?

Director Harold Ramis stated in the DVD commentary that he believed ten years passed with Phil reliving the same day. He would later revise that upwards, stating, "I think the 10-year estimate is too short. It takes at least 10 years to get good at anything, and allotting for the down time and misguided years he spent, it had to be more like 30 or 40 years." Actor Stephen Tobolowsky reckons his character Ned Ryerson spent 10,000 years getting punched in the face by his old school buddy, while the website WhatCulture calculated it at 12,395 days in the time-loop. Because they had nothing better to do.

It was Ramis and Murray's last collaboration, as they fell out

They had worked together on National Lampoon, Meatballs, Stripes, Caddyshack and Ghostbusters, but Groundhog Day broke the relationship between Ramis and Murray. The actor was going through a tumultuous time personally, with his marriage breaking up, so he would frequently turn up late to the set and throw tantrums when scenes were not to his taste - Ramis wanted a straight comedy, Murray wanted something deeper. Their relationship soured and they did not speak for 21 years, until Murray visited Ramis on his deathbed. To read more about it, go here. Murray would ultimately pay tribute to his friend at the 2015 Academy Awards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eIeEjrJYhE *The film is 23-years-old. The statute of limitations on spoilers ran out long ago.