Groundhog Day

Score: 5/5

Now this is what I'm talking about. I'm sure my esteemed, no post making colleague Porus would say this post is merely a masturbatory grade of a movie I enjoyed at age twelve. Well guess what, it is, and the movie still owns his dirty Polack face. At first glance it's simply a comedy in which a man relives the same day over and over again. Whoop de do. On second examination it is an existential journey through the human condition.

See what I love about this film is the resounding message that life is not about what you think the love of your life wants to see or hear, but that the love of your life sees and hears you for what you are. This was when Bill Murray started making movies with a goddamn point rather than to elicit cheap laughs (not that cheap laughs aren't in this movie). It shows us that for all the work and trouble we put into the love of our lives it is not nearly as satisfying as the love of our lives chasing back at us for who we truly are. Bill Murray, in no short order, receives wealth beyond his wildest dreams, gets laid more than Hugh Hefner, and is liked by everyone around him. But it isn't enough, because no matter how hard he tries, no matter how much memorization of his loves' playlist and interests, its the real him that counts. Call me sentimental but this is the kind of message you don't get much in movies these days. The message that says be yourself and listen. Then maybe then you will find the clarity and happiness you seek.

What I love about this movie is that Bill Murray's character, Phil, goes through so many days that at first he find it to be a curse. But in the final day he has learned to live with it. Learned to live with seeing the same old lady feeding you eggs and coffee, learned to live with and interact with his coworkers on a human level, learned to enjoy the mundane and sameness of everyday life. And this is his salvation. He treats the "simple" folk he encounter (those he would normally despise openly) with respect and equality. He learns to live with the normality of everyday life and to enjoy it for what it is, as it is all we have. Most movies with a happy ending seem contrived, in this movie it is a gift, a blessing. An object lesson that real life isn't just what we get, but all we can hope for, and all that is beauty and perhaps the meaning of our lives.