Groundedhog Day

I've been meaning to rewatch this movie, and with the recent news...

Do I need to retell this story? Phil hates his current job, and is forced to attend Groundhog Day, and relives the day over and over and... slowly he snaps, and rebuilds himself according to the outline given by The Woman... okay, this is sounding a little cynical, but it kinda is. It's not until Phil becomes the man of her dreams does he move on to the next day. A less bitter take is to look at the final moment before the final day (although, of course, we have no idea how many days intervene). He tries to save the old man, and fails, more than once. It's when he accepts, not his death, but that some things are beyond his control and he is willing to finally surrender to a higher power and stop fighting this change he finally is able to slip out of this. (And I can't remember if this is highlighted in the director's commentary or not, just what I noticed again while watching it.) [Although there is a story point that always bugged me: The piano teacher says 'he's my student' at the end... but when he's that good, why is Phil still going for a one off session with her? And is he still stealing money to pay for everything?]

Anyway, terrific performances abound here, with Bill Murray having to run the gamut from a-hole to nice guy... albeit still rather bitter and sarcastic nice guy. This also means that everyone else is largely one note, because they don't have a chance to grow as Phil does, the best we get it seeing deeper in their character, but even with the best example, namely Rita, she's still the same character from start to end. Still, cameo by Harold Ramis, yay!

Fantastic movie, and well worth watching. Again and again, as it happens...

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