Groundhog Day (1993)

Directed by

Harold Ramis

Genre

fantasy film, comedy film, science fiction film, comedy drama, romantic comedy, romance film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 41m

Rated

PG

Rating

7.6 of 10 from 8,979 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A cynical weatherman gets stuck living the same day over and over. He tries everything from hedonism to despair before slowly learning to become a better person.

funnythoughtfulupliftingquirkylightheartedwhimsicalslapstick

What happens

Groundhog Day is a 1993 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the screenplay with Danny Rubin. Starring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott, it tells the story of a cynical television weatherman covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, who becomes trapped in a time loop, forcing him to relive February 2 repeatedly. The film also features Stephen Tobolowsky, Brian Doyle-Murray, Marita Geraghty, Angela Paton, Rick Ducommun, Rick Overton, and Robin Duke in supporting roles. Rubin conceived Groundhog Day in the early 1990s. He wrote it as a spec script to gain meetings with producers for other work. It eventually came to the attention of Ramis, who worked with Rubin to make his idea less dark in tone and more palatable to a general audience by enhancing the comedy. Murray clashed with Ramis over the script; he wanted to focus on the philosophical elements, whereas Ramis concentrated on the comedic aspects. Principal photography took place from March to June 1992, almost entirely in Woodstock, Illinois. Filming was difficult, in part because of bitterly cold weather but also because of the ongoing conflict between Ramis and Murray. Groundhog Day premiered at the Fox Village Theatre on February 4, 1993 and was released by Columbia Pictures on February 12. Earning over $105 million, it became one of the year's highest-grossing films. It also received generally positive reviews. Critics praised the melding of sentimental and cynical moments, and the philosophical message beneath the comedy. It was nominated for multiple awards and won a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film marked the end of Murray and Ramis's longtime collaborative partnership, which had produced films like Caddyshack (1980) and Ghostbusters (1984). After filming ended, the pair did not speak to each other until shortly before Ramis's death in 2014. The film was a showcase for Murray; he had previously been seen primarily as a comic actor, and his performance led to more serious roles in critically acclaimed films. In the years since its release, the film has grown in esteem; it is often considered among the greatest films of the 1990s and one of the greatest comedy films. It has also had a significant effect on popular culture: the term Groundhog Day, meaning a monotonous, unpleasant, and repetitive situation, has become part of the English lexicon. Buddhist, Christian, and Jewish scholars have analyzed the film as a religious allegory. Groundhog Day is also credited with having ushered in mainstream acceptance of comedy films with fantasy-genre elements, and popularizing time loop narratives. In 2006, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry. Groundhog Day was adapted into a 2016 musical, and inspired a 2019 video game sequel, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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