What it’s about
Sent to cover a local Groundhog Day festival in Punxsutawney, PA, grumpy TV weatherman Phil (Murray) is dismayed when a blizzard forces him and producer Rita (MacDowell) to spend an extra night in the sleepy town. The next morning, he awakens to learn that it's Groundhog Day — again! Phil then discovers he's stuck in an endlessly repeating time loop, doomed to live the same day forever. Is there any path back to his future?
Why we love it
Ramis's oddball comedy tracks a cynical meteorologist's hilarious efforts to free himself from a wormhole that's locked him into one of the dreariest days of his entire life. Murray's deadpan line readings and impeccable comic timing are what really make this movie such a cult favorite, especially as he devises various schemes to escape this maddening temporal loop. Chris Elliott, playing a dodo-brained camera operator, and sultry brunette MacDowell, the charming, cool-headed love interest, are wonderful as well. This is a fun, heady riff on petty misery that's tailor-made for Murray fans.