From /tmp/sf.15692 Tue Mar 30 18:19:01 1993 Xref: lysator.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:198 rec.arts.sf.reviews:42 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: lysator.liu.se!isy!liuida!sunic!mcsun!Germany.EU.net!news.netmbx.de!mailgzrz.TU-Berlin.DE!cs.tu-berlin.de!math.fu-berlin.de!fauern!ira.uka.de!yale.edu!newsserver.jvnc.net!darwin.sura.net!bogus.sura.net!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!pacbell.com!att-out!cbnewsj!ecl From: blake7@herahera.cc.bellcore.com (berardinelli,james) Subject: REVIEW: GROUNDHOG DAY Reply-To: blake7@herahera.cc.bellcore.com (berardinelli,james) Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1993 00:03:54 GMT Approved: ecl@cbnewsj.att.com Message-ID: <1993Feb13.000354.13426@cbnewsj.cb.att.com> Followup-To: rec.arts.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #01757 Keywords: author=Berardinelli Sender: ecl@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Lines: 69 [Followups directed to rec.arts.movies.] GROUNDHOG DAY A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli Running Length: 1:41 Rated: PG (Little offensive) Starring: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliot Director: Harold Ramis Producers: Trevor Albert and Harold Ramis Screenplay: Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis Music: George Fenton Released by Columbia Pictures Pittsburgh weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is having one of the most unpleasant days of his life on February 2 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania where he's covering the Groundhog Day celebration. It's one of those days when Murphy's Law seems to be in full effect. But Phil soon discovers that things are worse than they first seemed, because for him, and him alone, time has stopped. Now, he's trapped in a bizarre time loop where he's destined to re-live Groundhog Day over and over again, with no apparent hope of reprieve or release, and no way of telling anyone else since he's the only one that realizes what's happening. It's deja vu gone mad. This is one of the most fresh and original comedies to grace the screen in a long time. After starting with an interesting premise, the film executes the story in a manner worthy of the idea. From beginning to end, GROUNDHOG DAY is enjoyable. Written with an intelligent viewer in mind, the picture will likely charm even the most cynical movie-goer. With as much repetition as there is in GROUNDHOG DAY, it would be easy for the film to get bogged down. Solid directing, combined with judicious editing, eliminate the problem. The only time we see a scene repeated is when there's something new (and often amusing) added to it, and even then we are re-shown little more than what's necessary for the effect. The story always moves forward, often in unexpected directions. The comedy is of the highest caliber. Absent are the inane sight gags and puns of films like HEXED and LOADED WEAPON 1. Instead, GROUNDHOG DAY finds its humor in situations and characters. It makes use of Bill Murray's prodigious talent as a comic and allows him to play off of the more serious Andie MacDowell. While the chemistry between them isn't smouldering, they work well together. Their characters' romance is credible because it's low-key. GROUNDHOG DAY isn't a science fiction or fantasy film, so it's not interested in answering the technical questions of how the time loop came about, or what might happen if Murray's character Phil stayed up all night. Instead, it presents the situation to the audience, then does as much as it can with it. Suspension of disbelief is necessary, but not difficult to achieve. This may not be the perfect way to set up a movie but, at least in this case, it works. With all of the formula-driven comedies available today, many of which are unfunny or only occasionally amusing, it's a joy to find something as unique as GROUNDHOG DAY. This movie has all the qualities necessary to a good comedy: likable characters, charismatic performers, a strong premise that is capably executed, and a lot of laughs. This might be one to see over and over and over.... Rating: 8.7 (A-, ***) - James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com) From /tmp/sf.15692 Tue Mar 30 18:19:05 1993 Xref: lysator.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:206 rec.arts.sf.reviews:46 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: lysator.liu.se!isy!liuida!sunic!mcsun!Germany.EU.net!news.netmbx.de!mailgzrz.TU-Berlin.DE!math.fu-berlin.de!ira.uka.de!yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!network.ucsd.edu!pacbell.com!att-out!cbnewsj!ecl From: leeper@mtgzy.att.com (Mark R. Leeper) Subject: REVIEW: GROUNDHOG DAY Reply-To: leeper@mtgzy.att.com Organization: AT&T, Middletown NJ Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1993 21:33:20 GMT Approved: ecl@cbnewsj.att.com Message-ID: <1993Feb16.213320.2576@cbnewsj.cb.att.com> Followup-To: rec.arts.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #01765 Keywords: author=Leeper Sender: ecl@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Lines: 56 [Followups directed to rec.arts.movies.] GROUNDHOG DAY A film review by Mark R. Leeper Copyright 1993 Mark R. Leeper Capsule review: If you could live one day over and over, as if you were replaying a video game, could you ever get the day perfect? What would be your best strategy? Bill Murray plays a weatherman reliving over and over February 2 in Punxsutawney, PA. What is the best he can make of the day? The premise is engaging and the execution entertaining. Rating: high +1 (-4 to +4). On May 5, 1961, TWILIGHT ZONE ran an episode called "Shadow Play," written by Charles Beaumont and directed by John Brahm. Dennis Weaver played Adam Grant, a man sentenced to death. It is the day Grant is to be executed for murder. He claims to have a sort of deja vu and can even tell people verifiable facts he seems to have no way of knowing. He claims that he is living the same day over and over. Eventually he is executed only to wake up in his cell with the same day starting over. This idea gets re-used and explored in detail in GROUNDHOG DAY. Phil (played by Bill Murray) is a television weatherman with a funny on-screen persona. Of the television he is bitter and cynical and does just about whatever he can to make himself difficult to deal with. February 2, Groundhog Day, finds Phil in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, filming the famous Groundhog Day festivities. Phil is less than thrilled and is making life miserable for his producer Rita (played by Andie McDowell) and cameraman Larry (played by Chris Elliot). Next morning he wakes up and it is still Groundhog Day. Phil is living the same day over and over and making the same mistakes. The day becomes like a video game that he plays over and over, practicing to get past all the hazards of the day. He uses one strategy after another trying to find how to get the most out of the day and how best to benefit from having gone through the day use his experiences of having already been through the day. The script (by Danny Rubin and director Harold Ramis) starts taking on a higher meaning of just what the purpose of life. Phil can play his day for thrills, he can play it to gain self-enrichment, he can play it to get sex, he can be an altruist, or he can romance Rita. The latter is questionable since, first, Rita is a bit sappy herself, but also it is a bit of a challenge since after Phil has been so nasty way back on February 1, it seems unlikely that one day would be enough for re-educating Rita. The film's conclusion about what the best of all possible Groundhog Days is is a bit of a cheat, since it depends very heavily on previous knowledge--life is not really like a video game--and it is somewhat reminiscent of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Ramis has an intriguing premise taken just about as far as it could be taken. It is pleasant but not particularly deep. I rate it a high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale. Mark R. Leeper att!mtgzfs3!leeper leeper@mtgzfs3.att.com From /tmp/sf.15692 Tue Mar 30 18:19:08 1993 Xref: lysator.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:207 rec.arts.sf.reviews:47 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: lysator.liu.se!isy!liuida!sunic!seunet!pipex!doc.ic.ac.uk!agate!ames!pacbell.com!att-out!cbnewsj!ecl From: HADCRJAM@admin.uh.edu (MILLER, JIMMY A.) Subject: REVIEW: GROUNDHOG DAY Reply-To: HADCRJAM@admin.uh.edu (MILLER, JIMMY A.) Organization: University of Houston Administrative Computing Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1993 21:43:41 GMT Approved: ecl@cbnewsj.att.com Message-ID: <1993Feb16.214341.2983@cbnewsj.cb.att.com> Followup-To: rec.arts.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #01766 Keywords: author=Miller Sender: ecl@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Lines: 75 [Followups directed to rec.arts.movies.] GROUNDHOG DAY A film review by Jimmy A. Miller Copyright 1993 Jimmy A. Miller Starring Bill Murray Andie Macdowell Chris Elliot Director Harold Ramis Basic premise: Murray is a weatherman who is a less-than-wonderful human being. He, Macdowell and Elliot travel to Punxatawney, PA, for the annual Groundhog Day celebration. They are unable to leave because of a blizzard, and Murray awakes the next morning only to discover that it's *not* the next morning, but Groundhog Day all over again, with the people around him going through almost the exact same motions they went through before, seemingly unaware of what has happened to him. As Phil continues to relive Groundhog Day, he learns to use his foreknowledge to his own advantage, allowing him to seduce women, rob banks, and generally have a good time, without having to worry about the consequences of his actions. Gradually this palls on Phil, and he begins working on Andie Macdowell's Rita. Rita is most of the things Phil is not: gentle, kind, and still with playful outlook on life. Phil begins a painstaking effort to seduce her, but fails. At this point Phil begins to despair and attempt to kill himself, only to awaken after each attempt at 6:00 AM, February 2, to the strains of "I Got You Babe." Here the film slows down for a moment to really let us begin to feel Phil's plight, and Murray does an amazing job as a man who begins to wonder the point of it all, and then seeks to use his bizarre opportunity to become a better person. This is a wonderful charmer of a movie. It is not Bill Murray comedy in the tradition of STRIPES or GHOSTBUSTERS, despite its decidedly off-kilter premise. Murray's Phil is a variation on the typical character we have come to associate with him, the wisecracker who seems to know just a bit more than everyone else, but this time he's a wisecracker gone sour, though not so over the top evil as we saw him in SCROOGED. At first his irritability seems a bit forced, but this passes soon enough, and Murray delivers wonderfully. MacDowell does fine as Rita, making a believable character out of her even though we only get to see parts of the whole person. She creates the gentle soul both we and Murray somehow come to realize holds the key to his escape. I did think Chris Elliot was somewhat wasted as the cameraman. He just didn't have much to do, and I think almost anyone could have played the part. But this is a minor quibble. All the supporting cast was fun, the nerdy insurance salesman in particular. But this movie belongs to Murray, who is able to really utilize his comic skills and keep things from becoming sappy. The relationship between he and Macdowell is credible, and Murray's slow transformation from self-centered jerk is well done. The direction and pacing are excellent. Given the premise, there is a tremendous danger of over-repetition, but this is avoided. We see only enough to reset the scene, and it is exploited for its comic and dramatic purposes brilliantly. Minor characters move in and out of the action in a believable fashion, helping maintain the sense that we're in a small town, enhancing the familiarity Phil must feel as he moves about a place where he eventually knows *to the minute* when things are going to happen. GROUNDHOG DAY is a romantic comedy with, I think, something to say about people as well. It is intelligent, charming, and well worth the full price. Go see it, again and again and again. semper fi, Jammer Jim Miller