Groundhog Day is a fantasy comedy movie directed by Harold Ramis and written by Ramis and Danny Rubin that was released in 1993. Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott star in the film.
Murray plays Phil Connors, a sarcastic television weatherman who becomes imprisoned in a time loop while covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and is forced to relive February 2nd over and over again. Stephen Tobolowsky, Brian Doyle-Murray, Marita Geraghty, Angela Paton, Rick Ducommun, Rick Overton, and Robin Duke also star in the movie.
Groundhog Day was a box office hit upon its initial release, grossing over $105 million and becoming one of the year’s highest-grossing pictures. It also earned mostly positive feedback. The film’s skillful merging of highly romantic and bitterly cynical moments, as well as the philosophical message underneath the comedy, received widespread appreciation from critics.
It was nominated for many awards and won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay. Despite its commercial success, the film signaled the end of Ramis and Murray’s long collaboration, which included films such as Caddyshack (1980) and Ghostbusters (1984). (1984). After filming, the two did not speak until just before Ramis’ death in 2014.
Buddhists, Christians, and Jews have all seen the film as a religious allegory. Groundhog Day is also credited with popularising comedic movies with aspects of the fantasy genre. The film was chosen for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress in 2006. Groundhog Day was made into a musical in 2016 and a video game sequel, Groundhog Day: Like Father, Like Son, in 2019.
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