GROUNDHOG DAY (1993): Hilarious Bill Murray Comedy Celebrates its 30th Anniversary

Time Loop Comedy Groundhog Day Turns 30

Bill Murray‘s hilariously funny 1993 comedy, Groundhog Day, will be celebrating its 30th Anniversary.

If you haven’t seen the great Harold Ramis directed gem, Groundhog Day, now is the time. You can see it on the big screen through Fathom Events on February 2nd, which is –you guessed it– Groundhog Day. This movie, which was about a weatherman who repeated the same day over and over again, has inspired so many other time loop films. Happy Death Day immediately comes to mind but there are many more. Perhaps none as successful as Bill Murray’s hit comedy. There was even an acclaimed Broadway musical in 2017, Groundhog Day, which was, indeed, based on the hit movie.

Groundhog Day, the film, was about a weatherman named Phil Connors who goes to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover Groundhog Day. Through some force of magic, Phil repeats the day many, many times. He goes to sleep and wakes up and it’s the same day and the events he lived the day before (also Groundhog Day) never happened. He gets to perfect his relationship with a woman and basically learns to be a better human being in a true It’s a Wonderful Life type picture full of nonstop laughs.

Though there was some tension between Ramis and Murray on the set of the now 30-year-old film, the finished product is a gem that has stood the test of time. People refer to the movie when they talk about repeating similar events in their lives.

Andie MacDowell played Bill Murray’s love interest in the 1993 comedy. It is MacDowell’s favorite film project and she excelled at playing the “straight” character to Bill’s whiny and funny character in the picture. MacDowell had a radiance about her (which she still possesses) that made her the perfect star to play off Murray’s hilarity and one-liners.

Tom Hanks and Michael Keaton were once considered for Murray’s role in Groundhog Day but nobody could have done this role as well as Murray did or as distinctly. The 1993 picture is certainly one of Murray’s most memorable film roles of all-time. Murray had a bit of a dark edge which he gave the character which certainly stood out and made him relatable.

Groundhog Day earned $71 million domestically in 1993 and had received a decent “B+” CinemaScore grade. At the time the movie came out, some people were annoyed at the frustrating aspect of the picture in which some events kept repeating during the same (but different) day over and over again. Even some of those people who were a bit annoyed back then, though, have become fans of the unique comedy movie over the years.

Some people even use one of the key supporting character (Stephen Tobolowsky’s Ned Ryerson)’s line in the movie: “Watch that first step. It’s a doozy.” That line is just one of many classic elements which were interwoven into the classic 1993 picture. It’s a must-see, feel-good movie that, even at 30, feels as welcome as ever.

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