For many individuals across the globe, February 2nd is after they rejoice an necessary ritual – watching Invoice Murray berate poor Chris Elliot in Groundhog Day. Just lately throughout certainly one of my many viewings, I stumble on a sudden realization– Groundhog Day simply is likely to be the best romantic comedy of all time.
Certain, I like Annie Corridor, Say Something… and (500) Days of Summer season as a lot as the subsequent delicate hipster sort. However whereas these films are nice, they may also be a little bit of a bummer on date evening. Groundhog Day is hilarious (it is likely to be Murray’s finest film, which is saying lots), candy with out being sappy, and incorporates a intelligent script (cowritten by director Harold Ramis) that by no means fails to amaze me with its hermetic comedian logic. Let’s check out why Groundhog Day simply is likely to be the best romantic comedy of all time.
It’s the right date film
Whereas your man in all probability isn’t dashing to see Bride Wars, there isn’t a person alive who doesn’t love Invoice Murray. (If there’s, I don’t wish to know him.) Groundhog Day has one thing for everybody– laughs, coronary heart, and a brisk tempo that may maximize your post-movie make out time. (Why are romantic comedies so lengthy today? He’s Simply Not That Into You and Valentine’s Day each clock in at over two hours. The Intercourse and the Metropolis films ran 145 excruciating minutes every. Taken collectively, that’s practically so long as the operating time for the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy. What number of romantic misunderstandings and horrible puns should we endure??)
Andie MacDowell’s character is a practical feminine lead
Rita, Phil’s producer and budding love curiosity, isn’t in search of a marriage ring or the right pair of Manolos. She’s a honest, quick-witted girl with a love for French poetry and candy Vermouth on the rocks with a twist.
Okay, perhaps Rita’s a bit of tacky. However she’s additionally much more likeable than the pencil-thin Carrie Bradshaw clones presently tripping over their four-inch heels on the massive display screen. (Why are so many feminine leads klutzy? Time to retire that individual character trope, Hollywood.) Although I’ll grant you it’s a little bit of a stretch that her hair would keep that impossibly excellent throughout a blizzard.
It reminds us that winter may be romantic
Whereas it’s onerous to get all goop-y about winter whereas we’re nonetheless knee-deep in Snowmageddon ’11, there’s no denying that in the correct context, snow may be fairly darn romantic. (So long as your automobile isn’t buried beneath a number of toes of the stuff.) Groundhog Day makes good use of its wintry setting, from Phil utilizing the time loop to excellent his Rita ice sculpture to their candy dance throughout a snow flurry. Within the pantheon of “films with snow dancing scenes that soften my goblin coronary heart,” Groundhog Day is second solely to Edward Scissorhands.
Ned Ryerson
Does insurance coverage salesman Ned Ryerson completely encapsulate the annoying former classmate we want would go away us alone after we stumble upon them on the road and/or get a FarmVille request from them on Fb? Bing! And does the good character actor Stephen Tobolowsky practically stroll away with the film? Bing!
It reveals us that love takes work
As Phil Connors discovers over the course of his actually lengthy day, you possibly can’t weasel your means into somebody’s coronary heart simply by pretending to be into the identical issues that they’re. In an effort to transfer ahead, Phil has to place within the time to essentially get to know Rita whereas additionally reworking himself from a whole jerk right into a genuinely good particular person. (Simply how lengthy do you assume Phil was caught in Punxsutawney, anyway? I’d say at the very least a decade.) Certain, it takes getting trapped in a seemingly countless time loop for Phil to learn to genuinely love somebody. However, hey, he’s performed by Invoice Murray, not Tom Hanks. His final line to Rita is, “Let’s reside right here. We’ll hire to begin.” Murrary’s characters are all about child steps, of us.