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The modern comedy classic Groundhog Day stars Bill Murray as a rude, temperamental television weatherman on assignment in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to cover the town's quaint Groundhog Day festivities. When an unexpected blizzard forces him to spend the night in a local hotel, Murray awakens to find that some unexplained, supernatural powers have sentenced him to re-live the same day over and over again -- until something inside him changes for the better. Fueled by cleverly appropriated themes from various Christmas classics, Groundhog's simplicity is its strength. Writer/director Harold Ramis shows a deft hand, gracefully orchestrating a story that might otherwise have dissolved into maddening repetition. The script is subtle, consistently funny and true to it's own strange logic. And Bill Murray brings a sharp comic edge to what is essentially a sweet tale of personal redemption, made all the sweeter by the grace of Andie McDowell as the woman worth waiting an eternity for. Donald Gray

All Movie Guide

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 déjà 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

Product Details

• UPC: 043396226456
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Language: Français
• Editions: Anniversary Edition
• Time: 1:41:00
• Sales Rank: 1,220

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Groundhog Day / Ghostbusters / Stripes

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