Jeri Jacquin
Coming to 4K Ultra HD and Limited Edition Steelbook from director Harold Ramis and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the iconic film GROUNDHOG DAY.
Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is a television weatherman who has been sent to Punxsutawney to do a news spot on the Groundhog Day festivities. Before leaving he gives a weather report to viewers that a blizzard on the radar will miss Pennsylvania. Along with crew Rita Hanson (Andie MacDowell) and Larry (Chris Elliott) the cameraman, Connors makes it clear he is not happy with his assignment.
Dripping with contempt for the town and its people, he makes it loud and clear that a new job is on his horizon. Staying at the Cherry Tree In, the alarm with I Got You Babe blaring, Phil begins his day reporting on Punxsutawney Phil. Happy to be leaving, the run straight into the blizzard that he reported would not happen.
Forced to stay another night, Phil wakes up to the same song as the previous morning and quickly realizes he is suffering from some sort of déjà vu. Trying to leave town, he wakes up again, same time, same song and same place. Trying to discover what is happening, Phil goes through day after day trying something more destructive each time.
Confiding in Rita, Phil discovers that he is beginning to care for her but with each day he has to find a creative way to re-introduce his feelings. After trying everything to get out of the town and doing everything destructively possible, Phil begins to change in ways even he didn’t think were possible.
Phil becomes the new talk of the town and Rita is shocked! Finding his niche in the quaint little town – will he ever make it to the real ‘next day’?
Murray as Connors is everything about this film that makes it so iconic. He is grumpy, mean spirited, narcissistic, self-centered, and it works beautifully in his hands. Molding it into this character of Phil Connors, Murray not only delivers lines with perfection but his facial features are hilarious to the point of tears. Beginning with his utter distain for humanity, to a groundhog stealing crazy man to a piano playing life saver, Murray gives us each moment of enjoyment.
MacDowell as Rita has the ability to understand that nothing about Phil is going to change. He is who he is and she wants to wrap up the business in the cute town as quickly as Phil does but for seriously different reasons. As the days happen again and again, Rita starts to see a crazier side of Phil than one could have ever imagined and eventually see that something in him has changed. MacDowell is so sweet and charming from beginning to end.
Elliot as Larry brings his own brand of comedy as a guy who just can not seem to catch a break in work or in the potential for love. Elliott is uncomfortable in his own skin and it permeates to anyone that stands within five feet of him. That being said, he is still very funny and a joy to watch.
Shout out to Tobolowsky as Ned Ryerson, a character actor who, in this film, just shows up and never gets it. I know people like that!
Other cast include Stephen Tobolowsky as Ned Ryerson, Rick Ducommun as Gus, Robin Duke as Doris, Rick Overton as Ralph, Hynden Walch as Debbie, Michael Shannon as Fred, Les Podewell as homeless man, David Pasquesi as the psychiatrist, Willie Garson as Kenny, Richard Henzel as Rob Riley Radio host, Marita Geraghty as Nancy Taylor and real-life brother Brian Doyle-Murray as Buster Green. Let us not forget Scooter the groundhog playing Punxsutawney Phil.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment encompasses motion picture production for television, digital content and theater releases. The studios include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films and Sony Picture Classics. To see what is coming to theaters and to home entertainment please visit www.sonypictures.com.
Bonus Material include Feature Presented in 4K Resolution with Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos Audio and Channel Surround, Theatrical trailer. On Bluray the Features include Feature Presentation in High Definition, Dolby True Audio, Audio Commentary with Director Harold Ramis, Needle Nose Ned’s Picture-in-Picture Track, A Different Day: An Interview with Harold Ramis, The Weight of Time Documentary, The Study of Groundhogs: A Real-Life Look at Marmots and Deleted Scenes.
This 1993 film has so many memorable scenes and repeatable lines that our household will make it generational. GROUNDHOG DAY is one of those films that if you happen to be channel surfing and it shows up – you stop and watch it till the very end. It does not matter if the film has just started or there is only 10 minutes left – you watch. It is that iconic and made such an impact on everyone who saw it that year and Ramis directed a classic.
In our family, the line is “don’t drive angry, DON’T DRIVE ANGRY” and it cracks us up every time (if you don’t know then you don’t know so watch and KNOW). The other important thing about the film is that it makes one think – what would I do if a day kept repeating itself. Seriously? You can only nap so much, watch tv so much, eat so much – all especially since it has no effect on the day because there is no next day.
Okay, I think I might have just put myself in overthink so instead I’m going to re-watch GROUNDHOG DAY, which I’ve probably seen more times than Phil Connors actually woke up stuck.
In the end – what would you do if you were stuck in the same day… over and over?
