Hi guys! You know when your a little down and want something to cheer you up? Well I've come down with my sister's flipping flu bug and I'm feeling awful at the moment, so I decided to put a movie on that always makes me smile.......and then I suddenly realised that I hadn't even done a review on it, much to my shock.....so here's my review on...............

GROUNDHOG DAY

***ACTORS AND ACTRESSES***

Bill Murray - Ghostbusters 1 and 2, Lost In Translation

Andie MacDowell - Muppets From Space, The Last Sign, Four Weddings and a Funeral

Chris Elliot - Scary Movie 2, Osmosis Jones, There's Something About Mary

***CHARACTERS***

Phil Conners
Played by actor Bill Murray. Phil is a self-centered, ego maniac who seems to be in love with himself. He has the ability to make people laugh when he wants to, but most of the time, he comes across arrogant and self-absorbed. Phil is a weatherman for Channel 9 Pittsburgh and even in his job, his sarcasm reigns supreme. What this man needs is a good hard slap in the face to bring him back to reality.

Rita
Played by actress Andie MacDowell. Rita is the kindest sweetest person you could hope to meet. She is a producer for Channel 9 but wishes she could be more. Assigned to Phil, Rita is another one to be on the receiving end of his sarcasm. Rita seems to see the good in most people which surprises Phil.

Larry
Played by actor Chris Elliot. Larry has a number of tasks. 1 = annoying Phil. 2 = driving the van with all the equipment and 3 = holding the camera. Always out to impress the ladies, he doesn't exactly make a shattering impression on them. Always up for making fun of Phil to Rita, Larry would never miss an opportunity to do it to Phil directly. His heart is in the right place, but his head isn't!

***PLOT***

QUESTION: What would you do if you were stuck in one place.....and everything was the same.....and that nothing that you did mattered? ANSWER: Anything you wanted?......or not!

Meet Phil Conners, a sarcastic weatherman for Channel 9 Pittsburgh, who has been stuck with covering the Groundhog festival in Punxsutawney for the fifth time and he hates it. He hates the town, the festival and anything to do it, but his job is to cover the story. Now why would a weatherman cover a story to do with the groundhog?

Well in a nutshell, the groundhog is a small hedgehog looking creature, who legend has it can predict the weather. He comes out of his little box once a year and if he sees his shadow, then Punxsutawney has six more weeks of winter to come.

So reluctantly, Phil, teamed with a new producer and camera man make their way up to Punxsutawney to cover the story.

And so the story begins......Phil wakes up to an alarm and goes about getting Groundhog Day over with, he covers the story. After he is done and instead of staying the night in Punxsutawney, Phil is desperate to get back to Pittsburgh. But when he tries to go back, a massive blizard sets in and all the roads are closed. Convenient isn't it? lol. So now, Phil is stranded along with Rita and Larry. Their only choice is to go back to Punxsutawney and try again tomorrow.

However for Phil, it's just not that simple. When he wakes up the next morning, everything is exactly the same. It's Groundhog Day.....again and Phil feeling a little disoriented, carries out the same days events with unease. He goes to sleep once again, only to wake up and see that it's Groundhog Day again!

Phil soon realises that he is stuck reliving the same day over and over again and whilst he starts to enjoy himself, begins to realise that this is not all it's cracked up to be. Pretty soon Phil is desperate to find a way out of his predicament, but there happens to be a very good reason why Phil is reliving Groundhog Day over and over and Phil has to find out what that is before he goes stir crazy!

***MY PERSONAL OPINION***

I thought this was an excellent film and one of the best that I've ever seen. It's my favourite Bill Murray movie of all time and it's something that I'll always put on to cheer me up!

Bill Murray is one of my favourite actors. My favourite films aren't just Groundhog Day, although this is my favourite, but I love his appearances in the two Ghostbusters movies. I am a firm believer that Murray can't play anybody but himself. In every movie, that same quirky sense of humour comes out which has me roaring with laughter. Most of the gags and the quick one liners come from him which keep the audience attracted to the film.

Although he has worked with Bill Murray before in the Ghostbuster films, Harold Ramis is, for the most part, behind the camera than in front of it. He's done a fantastic job directing this movie and shows real talent, behind and in front of the camera. However, he does make a brief appearance in the movie alongside Bill Murray. Don't why but he just does.

The story is quite unique but seems to be something of a classic. When someone says they are having a deja-vu day, I always think of Groundhog Day and I've heard people say it loads of times. A man who repeats the same day over and over again makes for a very entertaining story and makes people think, "What would you do if you had to live the same day, over and over again?" Now most people would say anything they liked, but this film takes a logical but funny turn.

Phil does realise at the beginning that he can do whatever he wants and no have a care in the world, but that can soon get pretty boring. Sooner or later, he's doing his best to get out of this time-loop and that is where the hilarity ensues.

The characters performances are superb in this movie and I couldn't think of anyone else for the lead charater than Murray. Although Murray and MacDowell's characters distinctly hate each other to start off with, a nice romantic chemistry sets in between them and it's fun to watch Phil try to win her over as he has all of 24 hours to do it in before she forgets everything and the day is reset! There is a main plot to this story, but there is a secondary romance which is well worth watching in my opinion.

Nearly every single critic loved this film and quite rightly so! Here's what they thought.....

"In an interesting twist on reincarnation, Phil keeps coming back to the same day until he gets it right. "
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, SPIRITUALITY AND HEALTH

"This movie has all the qualities necessary to be a crowd-pleaser: likable characters, charismatic performers, a strong, capably-executed premise, and lots of laughs."
James Berardinelli, REELVIEWS

"Brilliant, quirky, good-natured, and smart are just some of the adjectives that we film critics don't get to use often enough, but all of them apply to Groundhog Day."
David Bezanson, FILMCRITIC.COM

"I liked Groundhog Day quite a bit, with its shades of old Scrooge and its eternal philosophical questions of why we’re here and what we’re up to."
John J. Puccio, DVDTOWN.COM

***FUNNY QUOTES***

These are my favourite quotes of this movie and couldn't do this review without telling you them! Bill Murray is priceless!

PHIL: I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster and drank pina coladas. At sunset we made love like sea otters. *That* was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get that day over and over and over...

PHIL: "I didn't just survive a car wreck, I wasn't blown up yesterday.....I've been stabbed, shocked, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted, and burned.
RITA: Oh, really?
PHIL: Every day I wake up without a scratch on me, not a dent in the fender... I am an immortal.

PHIL: "This is pitiful. A thousand people freezing their butts off waiting to worship a rat. What a hype. Well, it used to mean something in this town. They used to pull the hog out, and they used to *eat* it. You're hypocrites, all of you!"

PHIL: (on the phone) "Well what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today!"

***TECHIE BITS***

Title: Groundhog Day
Director: Harold Ramis
Category: Romantic Comedy
Running Time: 1 hour and 42 minutes
Certificate: PG
DVD/VHS: Both
Where to buy: Amazon or HMV
Price: £5.99 for the VHS copy and £7.97 for the DVD
Soundtrack: Unknown
Posters: Unknown
Trailers: Yes

I'll leave it up to you folks!

Happy trails and don't forget to donate online for the Tsunami relief fund at www.dec.org.uk or over the phone on 0870 60 60 900, by texting DONATE to 83321 or by post at: DEC Tsunami Earthquake Appeal
P O Box 999
London EC3A 3AA

Leila :)