Groundhog Day (1993)
The Cast
Bill Murray .... Phil Connors
Andie MacDowell .... Rita
Chris Elliott .... Larry
Stephen Tobolowsky .... Ned Ryerson
Brian Doyle-Murray .... Buster
Marita Geraghty .... Nancy Taylor
Yes, it's true. For Groundhog Day, I watched Groundhog Day. Frankly, living in Calgary I tend to avoid commenting altogether on the weather, because you never know when you're going to jinx it. Whole months have been lost due to snow because some clod said "Man, what a nice day!" So when the groundhog makes his stupid little prediction tomorrow, I'm going to close my eyes & cover my ears, 'cause I don't wanna know.
Anyways, Groundhog Day (the movie, not the actual day) is perfectly directed by Harold Ramis, based on Danny Rubin's awesome story. Murray's weatherman character is caught in some sort of time wormhole or something (don't ever expect an explanation, just suspend your disbelief) & is forced to re-live Groundhog Day (the day, not the movie) over & over again, with no end in sight.
I'm sure there are websites out there that have fielded educated guesses as to how many days were actually re-lived, but my conservative estimate is somewhere in the hundreds. To plan a perfect day in a small town you visit once a year, you'd need hundreds of throwaway days.
Having not seen The Life Aquatic yet, I firmly believe this is Bill Murray's finest performance. However, looking at my Bill Murray Top Five List, I see that this is not his finest performance. I might eventually squeak it into #5, though it will probably just get pushed out by The Life Aquatic anyways.
In summation, though my review had almost nothing to do with the movie, take heart in knowing that it is a fantastic comedic film, with a great romance thrown in too, though what makes Andie MacDowell's character so lovable is beyond me. 5 outta 5.
Roger Ebert's review of Groundhog Day (1993)