Groundhog Day - 1993

©Columbia Pictures

 

Review by D. Boilesen

I could watch this movie again and again.

In fact, I have.

Bill Murray is great as weatherman Phil Conners who goes to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania each year to cover the Groundhog story, i.e., will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow?

 

 

 

 

Phil doesn't want to be there and much to his surprise he wakes up the next day (forced to spend the night because of a snow storm) and discovers it's Groundhog Day again.

 

Each morning his clock goes off and Phil begins the same day again with Sonny and Cher singing "I got you, Babe."

 

 

 

 

 

Hearing the song "I got you, Babe" is a good example of the stickiness of music to an event or a movie scene or an ad (as the advertising industry well understands). The importance or catchiness of a song (e.g., when it was heard or simply the repetition of that sound in your head sometimes called an earworm, aka brainworm, sticky music, stuck song syndrome, or Involuntary Musical Imagery (INMI) is a common phenomenon. Tthe immediate connection (if you are of that generation) that one makes when hearing the William Tell Overture and relating it to the Lone Ranger's theme song is one pop culture example; or hearing George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and connecting it to United Airlines.

 

For me, when I now hear "I got you, Babe" it's a trigger to remember Groundhog Day.

 

 

 

Every family should make watching this movie an annual tradition on February 2 just like watching "It's a Wonderful Life" during the winter Holiday Season.

 

This is a great romantic-comedy, well-written with my favorite performances by Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.

 

I highly recommend this movie.

 

 

 

 

 

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