Book Review: Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day by Ryan Gilbey, published by BFI, 2005. Paperback, 96 pages. (Amazon)
The British Film Institute's Film Classic and Modern Classic book series are valuable critical texts that focus on a single film of choice picked by the author. Two of my personal favorites, Taxi Driver by Amy Taubin and Dead Man by Jonathan Rosenbaum, are now joined in my library by Groundhog Day by Ryan Gilbey. Finding acceptance with just about everybody in every religion, from Buddhism and Judaism to Christianity and atheism, the film began as a screenplay by Danny Rubin and was eventually modified by director Harold Ramis into its filmed incarnation. While the critical writing of Gilbey isn't as insightful as Taubin's or Rosenbaum's contributions, his book is illuminating in regards to the film's background, particularly with Rubin's early drafts. For example, two of the biggest changes to Rubin's script that cater to Hollywood's mainstream tastes include not starting in the midst of Bill Murray's supernatural milieu (seen as too "European") as planned, and the elimination of February 3 — the day after Groundhog Day — as yet another unexplained loop, this time for Andie MacDowell's character (we got the Hollywood happy ending happening instead). The elimination of these and other scenarios points to the screenplays avant-garde beginnings, but more importantly it illustrates the strength of the initial idea with its main themes — we can only change ourselves, change is a journey that takes a lifetime, etc. — surviving until the end. But its widespread acceptance also points to the malleability of the film by each viewer, who takes from it what they wish, an uncommon feat in Hollywood's spoon-fed factory.
The British Film Institute's Film Classic and Modern Classic book series are valuable critical texts that focus on a single film of choice picked by the author. Two of my personal favorites, Taxi Driver by Amy Taubin and Dead Man by Jonathan Rosenbaum, are now joined in my library by Groundhog Day by Ryan Gilbey. Finding acceptance with just about everybody in every religion, from Buddhism and Judaism to Christianity and atheism, the film began as a screenplay by Danny Rubin and was eventually modified by director Harold Ramis into its filmed incarnation. While the critical writing of Gilbey isn't as insightful as Taubin's or Rosenbaum's contributions, his book is illuminating in regards to the film's background, particularly with Rubin's early drafts. For example, two of the biggest changes to Rubin's script that cater to Hollywood's mainstream tastes include not starting in the midst of Bill Murray's supernatural milieu (seen as too "European") as planned, and the elimination of February 3 — the day after Groundhog Day — as yet another unexplained loop, this time for Andie MacDowell's character (we got the Hollywood happy ending happening instead). The elimination of these and other scenarios points to the screenplays avant-garde beginnings, but more importantly it illustrates the strength of the initial idea with its main themes — we can only change ourselves, change is a journey that takes a lifetime, etc. — surviving until the end. But its widespread acceptance also points to the malleability of the film by each viewer, who takes from it what they wish, an uncommon feat in Hollywood's spoon-fed factory.
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