Groundhog Day review

 Number 266 on the top 1000 films of all time is Harold Ramis' 1993 fantasy comedy 'Groundhog Day.'

Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is a journalist reporting the famous Groundhog Day festivities in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvannia when he finds himself trapped in a time loop. Forced to relive the same day over and over, the cynical and irascible Phil has to rethink how he wants to live his life. Andi Macdowell co-stars as Phil's producer and love interest Rita Hanson.

Since its release, Groundhog Day has become a cultural phenomenon with its fans celebrating it every year. It's certainly a satisfying watch as we see Phil complete a nice character arc. We see him start a miserable, grumpy reporter who hates how he has to report nonsense stories like the Groundhog Day into a man who starts to appreciate life more.

Much of this was down to Bill Murray. Harold Ramis was determined to use Murray, as all the other choices seemed too nice. But Murray turned what could have been an unlikeable Phil Connors into a likeable character. Granted he's still a hit of a jerk, but he is a likeable one. Although he is in a very undesirable situation.

Ramis' direction was very good as well. Time-loop films by their very nature can have a tendency to be repetitive, but Ground Hog never felt particularly monotonous. not for me anyway, as for Phil, it was a very different story.

I was a little confused about Andie Macdowell's accent. at times, it was standard American and at others, it reverted to her native Georgian accent. Andie Macdowell specifically asked to do this, but I don't understand why. it was very jarring.

Nevertheless, Groundhog Day was a very enjoyable and creative film with lots of humour and lots of heart.