More in-depth film festival coverage than any other website!
Home Reviews  Articles  Release Dates Coming Soon  DVD  Top 20s Criticwatch  Search
Public Forums  Festival Coverage  HBS Radio Contests About 
Advertisement

Overall Rating
4.3

Awesome53.16%
Worth A Look: 27.85%
Average: 16.46%
Pretty Bad: 1.27%
Total Crap: 1.27%

1 review, 73 user ratings


Latest Reviews

Monterey Pop by Rob Gonsalves

Mutant Swinger from Mars by Jay Seaver

Hellraiser by Charles Tatum

Most Dangerous Man in America, The: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers by Lybarger

Frozen by Jay Seaver

Crazy Heart by Rob Gonsalves

Quigley by Rob Gonsalves

From Paris with Love by brianorndorf

Secret of Kells, The by brianorndorf

Dear John by brianorndorf

subscribe to this feed


Groundhog Day
cover
List Price:   $14.94
Price:  
find out more information
[AllPosters.com] Buy posters from this movie
by Vanessa

"That could never happen. Doo doo doo. That could never happen."
3 stars

Have you ever wondered if you could go back in time and fix all the mistakes you've had in the previous day? I know I have. I remember that time with the seal, and Bobo the Clown...well, this isn't the place to be getting into that. Bill Murray doesn't really want to, but gets to, in this sorta cute little comedy.

Bill Murray is sent to the actual town of Punsutawney, Pennsylvania (yes, that's spelled right. I looked it up.) to review their annual Groundhog Day festivities, which involve knocking on a box, talking to a groundhog (Punsutawney Phil), and announcing if spring will be early or late. The citizens dance, the band plays, Bill rolls his eyes and is generally a jaded weatherman. He goes to bed.

The next day, he's awakened to the soothing sounds of Sonny and Cher, much like he had been the day before. He swiftly realizes that he's reliving the same day. Live, watch, repeat. Live watch, repeat. Etc.

Though the movie is very cute and some sequences (especially the ones where Bill becomes increasingly suicidal) are extremely clever. However, the constant feeling of been there-done that almost makes you want the movie. to. just. end. There's just too many repeats. How many times can you meet the guy you didn't know existed in high school? It could be that was the feeling the writers were going for, but I doubt they intended to bore their audience.

Now we get to the real dregs of the movie: Andie MacDowell. I don't like her. The woman can't act. She can barely pose. Her supposed Southern charm is something that eludes me in every movie I have seen her in. Essentially, she's at best a pretty carving. When Murray makes an ice sculpture, I nearly cried "A HA!" Finally, I see the light. She's really an oddly carved sculpture come to life. The scenes with her and Bill are supposed to be charming, but I just fidget through them.

Murray makes this movie. He can make even pretty terrible movies pretty good. This isn't a terrible movie. It's eh. The moments where it crawls out of 'eh' and onto the primordial surface of good are the ones with Murray in his nutty prime. It's his performance which makes it good for repeat viewing.

This movie is essentially a one-gag movie. However, with little groundhogs "driving" cars and Murray at his insane best, a couple laughs are had. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

 del.icio.us    
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1618&reviewer=5
originally posted: 10/19/99 02:40:16
[printer] printer-friendly format  

User Comments

9/10/09 Mac Wow- the one review is just poorly done. Watch this every 2 years!! 5 stars
7/08/09 *Holy_J@lapeno* An awesome movie to put in and fall asleep to. easy to watch and has some good laughs! 4 stars
6/29/09 budo Great flick--well done 5 stars
5/27/09 Baloney vintage Bill Murray + never better Andie MacDowell in a cute never cloying comedy 5 stars
10/31/08 Shaun Wallner Hilarious Movie! 5 stars
5/31/08 PAUL SHORTT A BLAZINGLY IMAGINATIVE EXPERIENCE WITH A GREAT MORAL MESSAGE 5 stars
5/03/08 Joe Adoon Awsome if you think this is dumb you a crazy 5 stars
3/22/08 Pamela White Very cute what a man will do with time on his hands 5 stars
2/03/08 Anne One of my favorites. Funny and fulfilling. 5 stars
2/02/08 Chris Not a great comedy, but a good one. 4 stars
9/04/07 Bitchflaps Has some great moments, but it gets mawkish towards the end. 3 stars
4/06/07 Anthony Feor Don't get me wrong there are funny parts, but the movie is still a drag 2 stars
3/20/07 Stanley Thai Sometimes irritating but follows with a good moral and funny. 4 stars
3/10/07 Mitch Mitchell Forgot how GREAT and CLEVER this classic is! You GOTTA see it! Funny and entertaining! 5 stars
2/13/07 johnnyfog Wow. Much better than I thought 5 stars
8/17/06 Mary Beth best movie ever made; all comedies should be this deep 5 stars
7/08/06 dk Who hired Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliott?They ruined what would have been a great movie! 3 stars
6/03/06 Wipef No matter how many times you watch this film, it is still fantastic 5 stars
5/18/06 Roy very cleverly put together 4 stars
4/23/06 Vicious An old favorite, it is endearing without being mushy, and I love Bill Murray 5 stars
3/28/06 Brian Meyer THE BEST ROMANTIC-COMEDY EVER! 5 stars
12/18/05 Dana L Goudreault I could...and have watched this movie over and over again. Murray's finest role ever. 5 stars
9/20/05 Klondo its great because of how moving it is - not because of how funny it is 5 stars
8/18/05 ES Wouldn't it be amazing to have eternity to get it all right= one of my top 10 5 stars
5/24/05 JDC It's not underrated - it's oft considered of the greatest comedies of all time 5 stars
4/13/05 Aaron Smith Cute and charming. 4 stars
3/18/05 indrid cold Murray is razor sharp. Possibly the great underrated comedy of the 90s. 5 stars
1/03/05 UMER murray more than just saves the movie 5 stars
10/30/04 Scott Roen I thought the writing of this was creative. 4 stars
8/19/04 Peter B. Very good story. 5 stars
7/18/04 Nobody Arguably Murray's greatest film 5 stars
5/24/04 DM Is very creative for a movie with such a premise 4 stars
4/07/04 archangeljen I don't care how repetitive this movie was. It was a great movie! 5 stars
3/23/04 Lord Haw Haw That's not bad for a quadroped. Excellent movie, probably my favorite Bill Murray. 5 stars
12/09/03 Samuel a decent film, but watch the first 20 minutes then catch the last ten its the same thing! 3 stars
9/26/03 Alan A bit repetitive, but given the plot, repetition is unavoidable. Pleasant movie. 4 stars
9/20/03 Kitty B. an enlightment for the "comedic-downtrodden" fuckin awsome film!!!! 5 stars
8/31/03 Kitty Kelso only seen half of it, but as a Murray grl, this movie ROCKED!!! 5 stars
8/20/03 TheDude One of the greatest Bill Murray movies of all time. 5 stars
6/18/03 Andrew Callaway Not only incredibly funny, but a very good plot, too. 5 stars
3/24/03 Jack Sommersby Limited premise fleshed out as well as it possibly could. A great cast. 4 stars
1/21/03 R.W. Welch Sags a bit in the middle but rather a clever piece overall. 4 stars
1/20/03 Film Liker Drives my wife nuts 'cause I can't see it enough! Good "just plain" comedy! 5 stars
11/23/02 CVJ Great comedy 5 stars
11/19/02 Nevz Actually, I thought this was quite good 4 stars
10/18/02 Doug Easily in the top ten of comedies 5 stars
9/02/02 Kerry pretty funny but i wouldn't recommend it 3 stars
6/09/02 Charles Tatum Not life altering, just funny 4 stars
5/29/02 Gary Remains funny even when it loses its way. 3 stars
3/18/02 The Bomb 69 beautiful movie, one of the few PG rated comedies that I laughed at 5 stars
3/03/02 Jenny Tullwartz Impossibly high standards for love. Andie MacDowell needs an upper colonic instead. 1 stars
2/23/02 Mark Lloyd A consumate Bill Murray movie. Not as good as his best movies though 4 stars
12/09/01 Mr. Hat (formerly Joe Zappa) It's funny and it's really weird and creative and interesting. Bill Murray is awesome! 4 stars
11/29/01 The $1.98 Pyramid Scenes repeated. But I beleive that's the movie's idea. 5 stars
10/16/01 Andrew Carden So-So Comedy, The Same Joke Gets Annoying Though. 3 stars
7/05/01 Monster W. Kung What the hell? I thought I already rated this. 4 stars
4/15/01 INCUBATOR My favorite movie ever 5 stars
2/19/01 K. Hui real fine ! 5 stars
2/04/01 Turtle Hilarious! Bill Murray at his best (his acting in Ghostbusters is his best, though)! 4 stars
2/03/01 Brian Jacobson very good! very good! very good! 5 stars
9/05/00 Dave Great comedy all around! It's a great movie! 5 stars
8/30/00 Ant Murray is great. Suicide and alarm clock scenes are hilarious. But sadly, that's about it! 3 stars
5/26/00 Add Bill Murray is the man and this movie totally backs up my claim. See it and enjoy. 5 stars
2/03/00 Richard Wright Bill Murray makes this hilarious and original film. Shame about the sappy finale though.... 4 stars
7/07/99 Ben Leostein Rating: *** (out of ****) Category: "Good" 4 stars
7/04/99 J-Dogg I hate to say this, but this is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. 5 stars
6/15/99 Dylan Ignore all the moral bullshit and enjoy it for what it is- fucking hilarious. 4 stars
6/09/99 PurityJustBegs Billy Murray is a comic genius.! what a wonderful, clever, smart and just plain great film. 5 stars
6/06/99 Matthew Bartley Probably the best studio comedy of the nineties 5 stars
5/04/99 Big Dog I not going to live by their rules anymore 5 stars
3/13/99 Ah Dooey Fabulous! Just fabulous! 4 stars
3/04/99 The Graduate This get more clever each time I watch it. Plus Andie MacDowell is a hottie. 4 stars
2/20/99 Kooky Sal Despite being tame as all hell, this is actually a funny movie. 4 stars
IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
Note: Duplicate, 'planted,' or other obviously improper comments
will be deleted at our discretion. So don't bother posting 'em. Thanks!
Your Name:
Your Comments:
Your Location: (state/province/country)
Your Rating:


Discuss this movie in our forum

USA
  02-Feb-1993 (PG)

UK
  N/A

Australia
  02-Jul-1993 (PG)




Home Reviews  Articles  Release Dates Coming Soon  DVD  Top 20s Criticwatch  Search
Public Forums  Festival Coverage  HBS Radio Contests About 
eFilmCritic.com: Australia's Largest Movie Review Database.
Privacy Policy | HBS Inc. | |   

All data and site design copyright 1997-2010, HBS Entertainment, Inc.
Search for
reviews features movie title writer/director/cast