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Stuck in time3Bill Murray findsit’s a wonderful lifein new romanticcomedyBy Dann GireDaily Herald film critict’s an eye-rolling premise that soundslike a cheap knockoff of a “Twilight Zone” episode.A cynical TV weatherman with the dis-/V m m _ w _position of an irritated cobra inexplicably becomes trapped in a magical time warp thatforces him to relive the same day of his lifeGroundhog Day — over and over for eternity.Maybe.But don’t sell Harold Ramis’ dumb-sounding comedy “Groundhog Day” short. Beneath its/» i • « ' ■veneer of caustic laughs and touching ro Phil Connors (Bill Murray, left) prepares to tape thodyssey of an unworthy man who discovers thatM ■ ™ a « m _onlywithout becoming bored. One is to help others The other is to love. That’s the end of the filmFilrAnd the beginning of his wonderful life.We see this same plot every holiday seasonwhen TV stations drag out “A ChristmasCarol” and deliver Dickens’ classic tale ofnicelyfilmsyuletide redemption. “Groundhog Day” fits inwith that genre of fantasy (“Christmas Carol,” “It’s a Wonderful Life”) in which supernatural forces intervene to save a beleaguered soul on the brink of losing it.Smart, funny and unabashedly romantic, Groundhog Day” stars Bill Murray as weatherman Phil Connors, a role that proves he can handle a serious romantic lead —“Groundhog Day”★ ★★★Screenplay by Danny Ruben and Harold Ramis.Produced by Trevor Albert. Directed by HaroldRamis. A Columbia Pictures release. Rated PG. 98 minutes.Cast:Phil Connors..........................Bill Murray.............................Andie MacDowellNed.........................Stephen TobolowskyLarry..................................Chris ElliottWith Brian Doyle-Murray, Rick Overton, Robin Duke and Rick Ducommun.By DannDaily HeralcWhenben’s s(hog Da:great clt; tional a:off, it wfilm, wlterrifyiisomethingthat his 1984 drama “The Razor’s Edge”Director/co-writer Ramis accom-Indeed,star Bill Ididn’t.plishes this in a very sneaky way. He lets Mur-same deep mud puddle in the street.Connors,plicably tray metamorphose into a serious romanticEvery day it’s the same old thing. No matter glitch thatlead after starting out in his familiar comicwhat he does, and eventually he does plenty, GroundhogpersonaPhil knows that when he falls asleep at night,seems an (oozes charming insincerity.nothing will have mattered. The next morning,“WhenMurray’s sarcastic weatherman heads off toPunxsutawney, Pa., (really Woodstock, 111.) to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities highlighted by another Phil that predicts the next six weeks of weatherSonny and Cher wake him up to do the whole the rom;mday over again.six weeks of weather depending on whether he sees his shadow. The human Phil wakes up the next day to the same clock radio tune of “I Got You Babe” (you know the singers). Then, Phil meets the same burbling house guest on the staircase, the same ditzy hotel manager offering him coffee, the same obnoxious insurance salesman who remem-When the true implications of his predicament sink in, Phil goes through a twisted variation of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' book “On‘What reihim, ‘Whlive life fireceive t:Death and Dying.” He initially denies his fate. Bill MurThen he becomes angry (you can tell that sort of giwhen he punches the insurance salesman inthe nose). He gets depressed and decides to• A « A « . . .Ramiscommit suicide, which he does — again and again and again. But when Sonnv and Cher% « • m m —-in Chica^directorwhose mlt;keep waking him up from permanent slumber, take in lt;bers Phil from high school, and steps into theSee GROUNDHOG on Page 2
Newspaper Details
Arlington Heights Daily Herald Suburban Chicago
Arlington Heights, Illinois, US
Fri, Feb 12, 1993
Page 371
Full Page
Clipped by
Rotten T.
USA 07 Dec 2022
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