Bill
Murray is so often a total delight to watch. The role is so perfect
for him here that I could just watch his wise-cracking ass go about
it's day without any sci-fi element. Despite this being an
essentially one-gag film, such art is used to keep it fresh, and it
pays off. The realisation of his situation, followed by the testing
of it's limits during his progression through horror, enjoyment,
depression, and finally acceptance before he learns his lesson and is
freed, is all perfectly in character and the development is
wonderful. This kind of Dickensian character development isn't
usually my thing, but it's just done so well here that I couldn't
help but smile as he rushes out the door and into the snow at the
end, with a newfound love of a future that's been won back.
It's
to the movie's credit that it doesn't try to explain the situation
any further than what Murray himself knows. In that way it's like a
good episode of 'The X-Files' - we understand the rules of the
situation, and he rules aren't broken, but an air of mystery is
always present - and despite any theories offered (maybe he's a god?
Maybe he's being punished by a god?) it remains.
This
and 'Ghost Busters' is what I think of first, when I think of Bill
Murray - oh, and that time he took over at a presidential pressconference and started talking about baseball. I should really get
around to reviewing 'Ghost Busters'...
(Disregard
that last sentence if I've reviewed 'Ghost Busters' by the time of
reading.)
Groundhog Day: 78.9