Groundhog Day (1993)

I saw this movie last week and I was completely stumped by the strong message it gave through it seemingly simple and straight story line.

The movie starts with Bill Murray, the lead actor, who is portraying a journalist, start for a nearby city to cover an even called “Groundhog day”. He is accompanied by a producer (the lead actress) and a cameraman. He reaches the place and covers the event and then plans to return the very next day. Next morning when he wakes up he realizes that everything is the same, same program on the radio, exactly the same people he meets on his way out and then he realizes it’s the same day as yesterday … it’s the “Groundhogs day” again. He find the producer waiting for him at the same place to cover the festival. He meets the same people again and they say exactly the same things again.

Then the movie show this cycle being repeated all over … day by day .. daily. Everyday he finds himself living the same day again … the “Groundhog day”. No matter what he does during the day, no matter where he ends up at night, in the morning he is again at his bed, waking up to the same radio program and to the same day. He tries everything, commits crimes and ends up in jail, has sex with total strangers, kills himself, but again the next day he finds himself waking up to the “Groundhog day”.
Then finally he decides to make something good out of all this. He starts learning different things, starts helping different people, because he already knows what wrong is going to happen with whom. Also, he tries to win over the producer, whom he loves secretly. Everyday he learns something new about her and then repeats the things she likes the next day.

Most of the people don’t understand the sense of it when the movie ends. We just tend to think, “Ok, so what next? Where did all this end? OK, he came back to a new day finally, but what after that?”. We usually fail to get the real message. The movie portrays the life of most of us. The way we are stuck in the same dead schedule, day after day. They way we are living the same day again and again. The way we have lost value for the small things around us and the way we have got so busy with things which really don’t matter.

All in all, a gem of a movie. I will really recommend everyone to see this.


IMDB
My Rating - $$$$
Director - Harold Ramis
Cast:-
Phil Connors - Bill Murray
Rita - Andie MacDowell
Larry - Chris Elliott?
Genre - Comedy

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About a Boy (2002)

The only reason I saw this movie was that I found the name somewhat intriguing. It was lying there in my hard disk for quite some time now & each time I saw it, I decided to see it sometime later. Yesterday I finally thought of giving it a go & I tell you, I don’t regret my decision. The movie starts with two parallel stories running independent of each other. One is about a man (Will) who does nothing. He is living his life in seclusion and believes that “every man is an island”. He believes in living alone and devotes all his time entirely on himself. The reason behind his doing nothing is a very popular song written by his dad, the royalties of which give him enough moolah to live a comfortable life. He has divided his time into “units” and allocates some units to all the daily chores of his. Like one unit for breakfast, one for bathing, two for watching TV, etc. The other story is about a little boy (Marcus) who lives with his mother. This boy finds himself constantly bullied by other children at school and finds everything going against him. His mother is constantly depressed and has lost all interest towards life.

Starting with a parallel depiction of the two lives, the movie brings both the characters together when Will, who suddenly discovers that it’s much more fun & hassle free to date divorced women, finds himself at SPAT (Single Parents A Together), where Marcus has arrived with his mother’s friends. Will goes for an outing with the lady and Marcus accompanies them. This is where they come to know each other. While dropping Marcus on the way back to his home, Will finds out that Marcus’ mother has attempted suicide. After this incident Marcus realizes that her mother is too lonely once he leaves home & he needs some backup. So he tries fixing Will and his mother, which eventually doesn’t work, but in the process he develops good friendship with Will. The movie then revolves around how Will helps Marcus develop a high self esteem and how the mother-son relation becomes stronger and happier.

The movie along with a decent story line has some very good performance given by Hugh Grant (Will) and Nicholas Hoult (Marcus). Their performances are very spontaneous and never during the entire 120 odd minutes do they give u a chance to yawn. It’s a mixture of comedy and drama and a saga worth watching. And as I always do with the movies I watch, I learnt some lessons from this one too. It teaches you to be yourself no matter what other people think. To be happy in your happiness and of those whom you love. It inspires you to help others who are in need and to live a life directed outwards, towards the happiness of others.

Imdb

My Rating: $$$
Cast: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collete, Rachel Weisz
Directed by: Chris & Paul Weitz
Genre: Drama/Comedy

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School For Scoundrels (2006)

If you are fed up with the lazy gear your life has got into, if you are tired of all the failures coming your way, if you like to smile but all you can do is frown, then this is a tailor made movie - specially for you. The movie revolves around a central character Roger (Jon Heder) who is so beaten by life that he doesn't find anything going his way. He sucks at his job, gets bullied by strangers, faints while talking to the girl he likes, gets dumped by a small boy whom he teaches swimming at the "Big Brother" teaching class and has lost all the confidence in himself. Then one day his friend at 'Big Brother" suggests him to contact some Dr P. This Dr P runs a small school for people like Roger, to make them stand on their feet and face life.

Our guy somehow manages to join the class and finds himself among 15 other people like him. People who have lost all confidence in life, in themselves and are pretty sure they are not worth anything. This class has a teacher, Dr P & his monstrous assistant "Lesher". Dr P teaches his students how live life on one's own terms. He gives all the golden rules to his students and constantly monitors their progress. After a phase of initial hesitation, Roger starts learning, but to Dr.P's amazement he advances too soon, too fast. Roger finally succeeds to date the girl he likes and find a new zest in life. But when everything seems to get on track, he is shocked to discover that his very own mentor, Dr.P is hitting at the girl he loves. Confused and amazed, he is told by his friends, that Dr P usually does this to people who threaten his authority, to people to become too smart for him or to put in the simplest of words, to people who have a potential to be another Dr.P. Such people are ruined and decimated by Dr P so that he can always be the unbeatable.

The movie progresses with Roger taking Dr. P in a head-on confrontation, questioning his authority and pledging to get his girl back. The movie has numerous twists and turns with both sides (Roger & Dr P) having the ball in their courts at different times. Finally our hero succeeds in winning his girl and exposing Dr P. The movie ends with Dr P meeting Roger in personal and awarding him the 'first ever Diploma' from the 'School for Scoundrels'. Dr P also requests Roger to some at the school some time and deliver a guest lecture. But our guy replies in superbly framed quote 'Those who can, do. Those who cant,teach'.

The movie gives lots of lessons to its viewers. It is superbly directed with lots of hidden messages. If someone has a sharp eye to comprehend what's hidden, he can really enjoy the drama. It sends a message to take life head-on, to be bold and assertive, to fight for one's rights and to live with a high held head. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and i bet that anyone who has a passion to live will enjoy it the same way.



Imdb
My Rating: $$$
Directed by:Todd Phillips
Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Heder, Jacinda Barrett, Michael Clarke Duncan, Horatio Sanz
Genre : Comedy


Your Rating