Groundhog Day

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Well, it's Groundhog Day... again...

And time to look back at one of the funniest movies of our time. Wait, it came out 17 years ago? Yikes.

My favourite part: Rita (Andie MacDowell) tells Phil (Bill Murray) that she studied 19th-century French poetry. The first time she says it, he laughs at her -- "Really? What a waste of time." -- and she recoils, not a little disgusted with his philistinism.

The second time, he goes all serious, looks up, and recites a few lines not from a 19th-century poem but from a song by the Belgian singer Jacques Brel, "La bourrée du célibataire" (1957):

La fille que j'aimera
Sera comme bon vin
Qui se bonifiera
Un peu chaque matin

Which means:

The girl that I will love
Will be like good wine
Which will improve
A bit each morning

(Which is pretty much what happens to Phil -- he keeps getting better.)

"You speak French?" she asks incredulously.

"Oui," he says quietly, blinking hilariously, half smiling, half smirking -- as always, smug, sarcastic, and vaguely sincere. It's all part of his ongoing plan, Groundhog Day after Groundhog Day, to get her to like him.

Brilliant. It's Bill Murray at his finest.

Happy Groundhog Day, everyone.