Groundhog Day

Washington Post Hal Hinson

For once, the audience isn't forced to surrender its intelligence (or its healthy cynicism) to embrace the film's sunny resolution.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

A hilarious and unexpectedly profound comedy.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

This movie has all the qualities necessary to be a crowd-pleaser: likable characters, charismatic performers, a strong, capably-executed premise, and lots of laughs.

Time Richard Corliss

[Murray] has the natural actor's charm of making manners matter. He carries Groundhog Day with his uniquely frittery nonchalance and makes the movie a comic time warp anyone should be happy to get stuck in. [15 Feb 1993, p.63]

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

Murray, more often than not, is pretty unbearable; but here, playing a man who is unbearable, Murray begins convincingly, amusingly, and gets even more amusing as he metamorphoses. [15 Mar 1993, p.24]

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

That glimmer of recognition is what makes Groundhog Day a particularly witty and resonant comedy, even when its jokes are more apt to prompt gentle giggles than rolling in the aisles.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A demonstration of the way time can sometimes give us a break.

TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)

Seeing it once is fine, but seeing it every day for the rest of your life is not recommended.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The funniest moments in Groundhog Day come when Phil takes sneaky advantage of his predicament-by, say, pumping a sexy woman in the local coffee shop for facts about her past and then, ''the next day,'' using the information to lure her into bed. What the movie lacks is the ingenious, lapidary comic structure that could have made these moments fuse into something tricky and wild.

Austin Chronicle Louis Black

There were a lot of ways for this film to go stupid; it succumbs to none of them.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Dial your expectations to moderate, burrow in for the duration, and you won't be disappointed - it ain't exactly springtime, but there are worse things than an amiable outing on a winter's night.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Considering that none of the characters is fresh or interesting, it's a commendable achievement that the quality of the storytelling alone keeps the movie watchable and likable.

Variety Staff (Not Credited)

The film is inconsistent in tone and pace; fortunately the pay-off works, bringing some much needed warmth to the area.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

With its zany daily episodes, "Groundhog" gets stuck in a non-progressive repetition.