Day One: Groundhog Day & Grumpy Old Men

In the words of Tobias Funke, "Let the great experiment begin!" I chose to review Groundhog Day on January 1st because of its emphasis on new beginnings, and really appreciating each day for the blessing it is. I picked Grumpy Old Men because I hadn't seen it in a long time and knew it was funny. So, without further ado, my first movie reviews of the year:

GROUNDHOG DAY:

Starring:
-Bill Murray
-Andie MacDowell
-Chris Elliott

Directed by: Harold Ramis

Screenwriting Credits: Danny Rubin & Harold Ramis

MPAA Rating: PG - Some Thematic Elements

It's a sunny day in Punxatawny, Pennsylvania, where the townspeople and several news crews have gathered for the infamous groundhog's prediction. TV weatherman Phil Connors, his producer Rita, and their cameraman Larry are covering the festival. Phil's sick of being stuck with the groundhog story year after year and has high hopes of moving to another network, one at which he might be more appreciated.

We see the alarm clock sitting innocently enough on the bedside table, and as it switches to 6:00 AM, the radio blasts on with Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe." Phil drags himself from the cozy quilt and listens to the radio, then leaves his apartment where he encounters a cheerful, corpulent man in the stairwell, a lady serving breakfast, and an extremely obnoxious old high school classmate called Ned Ryerson.

Things get started in the town square and and the groundhog predicts 6 more weeks of winter. The townspeople grumble, and the news crew packs it up to head home. Unfortunately for them, a huge blizzard is blowing in, and they are forced to stay in Punxatawny. Phil whines about this and heads to bed. When he wakes up -again to Sonny and Cher- he starts noticing something strange. Everything is exactly the same as it was the day before.

"Nice going, boys. You're playing yesterday's tape." - Phil

It doesn't take Phil long to realize that today is an exact repeat of the day before.

"Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today!" - Phil

The day arrives yet again and Phil meets Rita in the diner to try and explain his circumstances. He tells her he's reliving Groundhog Day for the third time and asks her for help. She puts him in his place and he heads to a doctor who is - SURPRISE!- Harold Ramis. Doc Ramis sees nothing wrong with Phil's head and suggests he visit a psychiatrist. Phil takes the good doctor's advice, but it isn't surprising that the small town head shrinker feels unequipped to address the problem. He asks Phil to come back tomorrow, which is, as we all know, probably not going to happen. Phil ducks into a bowling alley to drink with a few new beefy redneck friends.

"I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster. Drank pina coladas. At sunset, we made love like sea otters. THAT was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get that day over and over?" - Phil

And then he poses the question that really points us toward the heart of the story:

"What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same and nothing that you did mattered?" - Phil

Phil then realizes that if there were no tomorrow, there would be no consequences and he could do whatever he wanted. Naturally, he runs over a mailbox, gets chased by a group of policeman, plays chicken with an oncoming train, and winds up in prison. The next morning he wakes up back in the inn listening to "I Got You, Babe." He's pretty pumped, and starts quoting the radio DJ's groundhog day monologue. Phil then kisses the breakfast lady, punches Ned Ryerson in the face, and orders everything on the menu in the diner.

"I like to see a man of advancing years throw caution to the wind. It's inspiring in a way." - Rita

Rita and Larry head home and, as Phil exits the diner, he spots an attractive woman. He asks her name, where she went to school, and who her 12th grade english teacher was. The woman gives up the information and Phil splits. The next morning, he runs into her at the festival, chats her up, and before you can say Punxatawny they're doing the horizontal mambo in front of the fireplace. As an added bonus, Phil proposes. The woman is thrilled.

Phil has reached the point where he has memorized even the smallest details about the day in which he's trapped. He sits across from a bank as an armored car drives up. He executes a perfect Bonnie and Clyde getaway with a bag full of cash, totally unnoticed. With his newfound, temporary wealth, he arrives at the local theatre for a showing of Heidi II in a fancy new car, dressed like a Mexican cowboy. He's with an attractive blonde woman who wears a French maid costume. Phil insists the woman call him "Bronco" and, as they approach the ticket window, his one night stand from the day before walks by.

"Nancy," he calls. The woman looks at him strangely before walking away.

"My old fiancee," Phil drawls. "Doesn't remember me."

The next day, Phil starts chatting up Rita. He asks her to describe her perfect man. She starts rattling off characteristics: kind, supportive, funny, sensitive, plays an instrument, loves his mother. Phil replies, "I am really close on this one. Really, really close."

Phil monkeys with the van to keep Rita nearby. He finds out Rita's favorite drink, the fact that she drinks to world peace, and doesn't like white chocolate. He slowly gathers information about her in an attempt to become her perfect man. They build a snowman, get into a snowball fight, dance in a snowy gazebo, and kiss. Phil shows her his room and they snuggle in front of the fire. Phil tries every trick in the book to get Rita to separate herself from her clothing and accidentally drops the "l-bomb." Rita balks at the idea that this was one long setup, slaps Phil, and runs out. Phil tries to recreate the magic the next day, but he tries too hard and ends up weirding Rita out. Cue the montage of her slapping him in the face about a dozen times in various locations throughout the town.

Phil has now memorized all of the answers for that day's episode of Jeopardy, and he impresses a room full of elderly TV watchers with his mad skills. He then spends the next three Groundhog Days smashing the fool out of his alarm clock. That doesn't work, so he busts out with a Thelma and Louise, kidnaps the groundhog, and drives off a cliff.

"He might be okay." Truck blows up. "Well, no... probably not now." - Larry

But there are no consequences for Phil Connors, and he wakes up promptly at 6:00 AM. He then commits more suicides than Virginia Woolfe: toaster in the bathtub, stepping in front of a bus, jumping off a tall building. Another day at the diner, he tries to tell Rita his secret once more, claiming:

"I didn't just survive a wreck. I wasn't just blown up yesterday. I have been stabbed, shot, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted, and burned. And every morning I wake up without a scratch on me, not a dent in the fender. I am an immortal." - Phil

Phil finally gets through to Rita, who decides to stay with him the rest of the day as an objective witness to see what happens. They sit on Phil's bed flipping playing cards into a hat. Rita falls asleep around 3 AM. Phil takes the opportunity to tell her she's the kindest person he's ever known, and he knows he's not good enough for her, etc. etc. Sure enough, at 6 AM he's alone in bed listening to Sonny and Cher - surely a fate worse than death.

There are a few noticeable differences in this day. Phil finally stops to give the homeless man on the corner some change. He brings Rita and Larry their favorite kind of coffee and pastry, then gets to know Larry better, reads some classic literature, and takes a $1,000 piano lesson. He runs into Ned Ryerson and feels him up a little, then sees the homeless man from the corner shivering in the street. Phil carries him to the hospital, where the old man dies. Phil tries to save his life the next day by buying him lots of food and giving him CPR when he collapses, but the man dies anyway.

The next day, Phil delivers a moving speech about the groundhog, then goes about saving the day: catching a little boy who falls out of a tree, changing a flat tire for a trio of elderly women, and performing the Heimlich maneuver for a choking man. He even crashes the Groundhog festival banquet, dons some shades, and plays a mean jazz piano. Rita is amazed, especially when Phil seems to be the most popular man in Punxatawny. Next up is the charity bachelor auction and Phil is pushed onto the stage. Rita ends the bid war by holding up her pocketbook and shouting, "$339.88!"

Rita and Phil head for the door and are captured by Ned Ryerson, who is still on cloud nine after selling Phil every insurance plan known to man earlier in the day. Phil then pulls out all the stops and makes an ice sculpture bust of Rita, which is pretty much a guaranteed way to get someone out of their snow boots.

Even though it's been the perfect day, the clock still strikes 6 AM with "I Got You, Babe." Only this time... what's this?!?! The DJ is saying something DIFFERENT! Rita reaches across Phil to shut off the radio, and homebody can't believe his good luck. He runs to check the window and, sure enough, the scene has changed. Tomorrow has finally come! It is 6:01 AM, February 3rd, and Phil and Rita finally get it on.

They exit the inn into the snow covered wonderland and Phil exclaims, "Let's live here!" They kiss and dance off, frolicking in the snow.

I REALLY enjoyed this movie. I hadn't seen it in a very long time. It isn't necessarily laugh out loud hilarious, but it's a fun movie with a good message that does a good job keeping up with itself.

I give it a solid A.