Now in our seventh calendar year! PCR #306. (Vol. 7, No. 5) This edition is for the week of January 30--February 5, 2006.
REUNITED BUT THEN HE LOST ME OSCAR TIME MY FAVORITE FILMS - CHAPTER 5
FIRST SEEN: Yorkridge Cinema, Towson, Maryland If you are reading this let me wish you a happy Groundhog Day! Yes, you probably didn't even notice that February 2nd has come (and possibly gone, depending on when you're reading this). So what better way to celebrate the season by remembering one of the best comedies of the 1990s.
The idea of having to relive the same day over and over again may appeal to some. I know I've wondered the idea myself. Wouldn't it be great to be able to do whatever we wanted, no matter the consequences, knowing that when the sun rose again it would be the same day, a clean slate to start all over? What would you do with such a gift?
Not only is the film well done, to me it signals the first of the many great performances Bill Murray has given. This isn't the smart assed Peter Venkman from "Ghostbusters," or the maniacal television program director from "Scrooged." This is Murray's first complete character and he hits a home run.
But don't take my word for it. Joining me this week is screenwriter and friend Dana Goudreault :
Directed by: Harold Ramis Written by: Danny Rubin & Harold Ramis
Favorite Line: "What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today! Hello? Hell-lo??"
Favorite Scene: The revealing Diner scene with a worn-out Phil confiding in Rita.
Why do I like this movie? I don't. I L.O.V.E this movie. The reasons are plentiful, from the
fantasical concept of having a poor guy relive his worst day over and over again, to the side-splitting
sarcastic wit of Bill Murray as the unfortunate weatherman caught up in his own unpredictable
"storm", and finally, to my favorite part, the straight through the heart "romantic" angle, where Phil
discovers the woman of his dreams and sets forth to win her over. Easy you say? Not quite, as poor
Phil finds out over and over again. After suffering through countless days of increasingly painful
efforts, doing more and more and more, only to have it backfire on him, he eventually comes to find
that the key to winning her over was so easy, he missed it...every single day. And so his misery
continued on.
What was the key? That's revealed in my favorite scene, but you have to look a bit hard to see it yourself.
Phil confides in Rita everything that he has been going through. He is visibly worn to the bone. She, of course,
doesn't believe him and this is where he sets off to prove it to her. He does this by telling her intimate details
about all the people in the diner...people they have just met for the first time just minutes before.
The beauty of it to me, is that because he knows all this about each person, you realize he has actually sat down
and listened to these people talk about themselves. He listened! To see this coming from the guy who at the
beginning of the movie, answers a question from an old high scholl alumni like this..."What are you doing for lunch?"
"Something else".
Because he did the simple most courteous thing you can do for another individual...listening...he found himself face
to face with his dream girl and he won her heart by telling her everything she wanted to hear. He told her all about
herself and why it was he needed her so desperately to believe him. He didn't want to get back to the life he had. He
wanted life to go on so that he could have HER. Nothing else mattered to him and...in that one glorious scene, you know
that he has found his way, that he was going to get his girl. And the magic was all in "listening". It's a wonderful message
and it's never been delivered better in any other movie. That's why I L.O.V.E "Groundhog Day".
Next week I'll revisit the Beatles as I comment on their first (and best) film, "A Hard Day's Night."
Well, that's all for now. Have a great week. See ya!
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