Groundhog Day (BFI Film Classics) Paperback – 1 April 2004

This was already one of my favourite, if not my most favourite film and reading this well written and researched book has cemented that and helped explain just what it is I like so much about the film. The author's access to earlier versions of the script and interviews with writer and director add greatly in understanding the films development and the thinking behind the many revisions that took place. The prose is effective in depicting events and action if you have already seen the film and the summaries of the accelerated scenes are particularly good. There are many comparisons with other films showing the authors extensive cinema knowledge and the discussion of works by Nicholson Baker and Beckett were surprising but provide plenty of further reading suggestions. It's a quick read and I doubt I will need to view it again - unlike the film which I know will be watched many many more times with an insight that I didnt have before. Now to see if I can find any more BFI books on films that I know.

Interesting story

What's not to like?

Yes, this is fine and makes me want to watch the film and I’d be interested to find the book. For the price of two pints I’m happy.

Great

Ryan Gilbey has written a splendid book that can only increase one's enjoyment of one of the most enjoyable movies of the Nineties. He begins by showing how the project came together. (The original script was rather darker, more SF than comedy.)His analysis of the movie itself is serious but never pretentious, yet never betrays the humor of the film. (His comments on the "Ned Ryerson" character made me laugh.) His discussion of Bill Murray's performance is wonderful.Finally, Gilbey briefly sketches the influence of "Groundhog Day" on subsequent movies. All in all, a thorough and most enjoyable and informative book, a fine addition to the BFI series.

On opening the box from Amazon I was surprised at how small the book was, it should be called a booklet. I believe this is the first publication I have ever seen that numbers the first page of text as number 7 and includes the first pages of the book such as "First published in 2004..." in the page count. It's as if even they realized how short it was and were desperately trying to puff up the page count to make the cost seem somehow worth it. They don't succeed.The description of the book says: "Ryan Gilbey begins his account of Groundhog Day with the long and unlucky gestation of the script by Danny Rubin, who was interviewed for this book..." That's actually a very cleverly written sentence, it made me think this book was a detailed account of such things. But the author describes this very "long" gestation in less than eleven pages and that's pretty much the sum total of the behind the scenes content for this book. There are a few more anecdotes here and there, but the bulk of this booklet is essentially the author describing what happens on screen, "Cut to the radio alarm clock on the bedside table. It could be any radio alarm, any table. The time is 5:59. No - now it's 6:00..." Throw in some uninspired comments, some biographical info on Bill Murray, and a multitude of rather pointless film history references, and there are your 81 pages of the book.If you're a fan of the movie Groundhog Day you may be tempted to buy this book to find out more about the film, but you would honestly be better served surfing the web for a few minutes. This "book" might have made an interesting magazine article but it has been pulled and stretched into 81 pages of uninspired and pseudo-academic reflection.