February 2, 2011: Groundhog Day
With a snow day declared in Toronto and the whole family home for the day on February 2, was there really any option other than to watch Groundhog Day? This 1993 Harold Ramis film depicts Bill Murray re-living the same day over and over again, without any idea of what will break the curse of his existence stuck in small-town Pennsylvania on the day when the famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil comes out to predict the weather. The film is a comedy first and foremost, but it raises some serious questions about the meaning of life, what to do with the possibilities opened up by endless amounts of available time, how endless repetition and hopelessness can drag a person down, and the limitations of how much you can change people’s long-held perceptions of you in just a single day.
I’ve always loved the concept behind this film, since there’s such potential in it, and I think the movie does a convincing job of taking us through the roller coaster of emotions and reactions to being stuck in a situation where the same day is repeated again and again. There is the initial shock and bafflement, panic when wondering whether or not this is real, eventual glee when realizing that there are no consequences for any actions at all, boredom and depression after realizing that you’re stuck, a renewed interest in the finer things in life after realizing that there’s time to appreciate them, and the eventual settling on a goal which ends up turning out to be the way to break the spell. Bill Murray is a long-underappreciated dramatic actor who was buried for years under his own curse of being typecast mostly in goofy comedies, and it’s been good to see him steer towards more weighty work over the past decade. Here, he delivers a performance which requires not only the sarcastic wit for which he’s well known, but also the ability to show a full range of emotions as he goes through every imaginable human triumph and defeat.
How many decades did Murray spend reliving the same day every single day? It’s unknown, but it’s clear that it was many years. As a viewer, I don’t remember the first time I saw this film, so in my memory there hasn’t been a time when I didn’t know what needed to happen in order to break the pattern. It’s an important point, though, since the unknown nature of his problem is key to the emotional journey. Still, there’s plenty here for the repeat viewer, and we can take a certain joy from the knowledge that Murray’s life will eventually come around to being full and rich, and that he will live a certain February 2nd as many times as it takes before that happens. This is thoughtful and intelligent comedy which doesn’t need to rely on gross-out gags or coarseness for its laughs, and there’s always a place for that in cinema.
Underappreciated classic comedy about life’s meaning.
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