Groundhog Day [WS] [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Bill Murray plays Phil, a TV weatherman working for a local station in Pennsylvania but convinced that national news stardom is in his grasp. Phil displays a charm and wit on camera that evaporates the moment the red light goes off; he is bitter, appallingly self-centered, and treats his co-workers with contempt, especially his producer Rita (Andie MacDowell) and cameraman Larry (Chris Elliot). On February 2, 1992, Phil, Rita, and Larry are sent on an assignment that Phil especially loathes: the annual Groundhog Day festivities in Punxsutawney, PA, where the citizens await the appearance of Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who will supposedly determine the length of winter by his ability to see his own shadow. Phil is eager to beat a hasty retreat, but when a freak snowstorm strands him in Punxsutawney, he wakes up the next morning with the strangest sense of deja vu: he seems to be living the same day over again. The next morning it happens again, and then again. Soon, no matter what he does, he's stuck in February 2, 1992; not imprisonment nor attempted suicide nor kidnapping the groundhog gets him out of the loop. But the more Phil relives the same day, the more he's forced to look at other people's lives, and something unusual happens: he begins to care about others. He starts to respect people, he tries to save the life of a homeless man, and he discovers that he's falling in love with Rita and therefore wants to be someone that she could love in return. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: ABC
• Number of Discs: 1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Features:
  • "Needle Nose Ned's Picture-in-Picture Track"
  • Audio commentary with director Harold Ramis
  • "A Different Day: An Interview with Harold Ramis"
  • "The Weight of Time" documentary
  • "The Study of Groundhogs: A Real Life Look at Marmots"
  • Deleted scenes

AWARDS

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Nominated Best Original Screenplay - 1994 (Harold Ramis)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Bill Murray - Phil Connors
       Andie MacDowell - Rita
       Chris Elliott - Larry
       Stephen Tobolowsky - Ned
       Brian Doyle - Murray - Buster
       Marita Geraghty - Nancy
       Rick Ducommun - Gus
       Rick Overton - Ralph
       Robin Duke - Doris the Waitress
       Angela Paton - Mrs. Lancaster
       Carol Bivins - Anchorwoman
       Les Podewell - Old Man
       Harold Ramis - Neurologist
       David Pasquesi - Psychiatrist
       Brenda Pickleman - Buster's Wife

• Director:

  Harold Ramis

• Producer:

  Trevor Albert, Harold Ramis

• Screenwriter:

  Harold Ramis

• Screen Story:

  Danny Rubin

• Screenwriter:

  Danny Rubin

• Cinematographer:

  John Bailey

• Composer (Music Score):

  George Fenton

• Editor:

  Pembroke J. Herring

• Production Designer:

  David Nichols

• Art Director:

  Peter Smith

• Executive Producer:

  C.O. Erickson

• Set Designer:

  Lisa Fischer, Karen Fletcher-Trujillo

• Special Effects:

  Tom Ryba

• First Assistant Director:

  Michael Haley

REVIEW:

• A charming and well-crafted comedy, Groundhog Day is that rare Bill Murray vehicle in which the material (and its execution) are every bit as good as the star's performance. Murray gives a top-shelf performance that covers a surprisingly broad emotional spectrum, and Andie MacDowell is luminous as Rita. Danny Rubin's screenplay and Harold Ramis's direction take a frankly unbelievable situation and treat it with enough realism to allow the audience to suspend disbelief; although the almost science-fiction premise resembles that of such serious experimental movies as Last Year at Marienbad (1961) and La jetee (1962), Groundhog Day grounds its high concept in romantic comedy, in the classic journey of a grump reformed, and in the details of ordinary life. The result is one of the richest and most dimensional comedies of the 1990s. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi