Film
Groundhog Day/Groundhog Day
- Director
- Harold Ramis
- Certificate
- PG
- Running Time
- 101 mins
Sophisticated, funny, romantic, constantly inventive and even a little heart-warming, Groundhog Day retains a sharp, acerbic edge from start to finish.
For the fourth year running, jaded TV weatherman Bill Murray (motto: people are morons) is dispatched with producer Andie MacDowell and cameraman Chris Eliot to cover the annual Groundhog Day celebrations in the archetypal small own of Punxsutawney. Except that poor old Bill is about to get caught in a time loop where Groundhog Day repeats itself over and over again. Murray gives the performance of his career as he explores the endlessly repeating day, finding that if there’s no tomorrow he can safely lie, cheat, steal, make promises he has no intention of keeping, and get hideously drunk without facing the consequences. But the film’s funniest moments come when he uses his temporal advantage to woo initially unresponsive MacDowell. The redemptive outcome is a foregone conclusion, but the real joy is in all the incidental funny business, where director Harold Ramis balances brilliantly the many laugh-out-loud comic moments with the increasingly furious pace of Murray’s startling metaphysical adventure.
Yep, that’s right: the Cineworld is showing Groundhog Day followed by Groundhog Day. Or, as the PR blurb puts it: “See the 1993 comedy classic followed by the 1993 comedy classic.” D’ya see what they did there? At least they’re not proposing to charge punters twice.
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