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Review of Groundhog Day (George Fenton)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you seek a loyal souvenir from this cult classic film, including the choral and accordion performances of the "Pennsylvania Polka" that are a necessity for anyone maintaining a collection of bizarre film music with which to torture others.

Avoid it... if you seek a consistent, cohesive score by George Fenton for a film that really negated the possibility of such development given its zany personality and high profile source placements.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Groundhog Day: (George Fenton) A silly 1993 film that nobody could have imagined becoming a cult classic, Groundhog Day is the cinematic definition of a late bloomer. After only average box office success, it launched into another dimension when arriving on home video, eventually becoming an icon that redefined notions of Groundhog Day and came to represent repetitive situations that people found intolerable. It has managed to sneak its way into several lists of the top comedy films of all time, an enduring symbol of lead actor Bill Murray's eccentric mannerisms. In the story, Murray is a difficult, offensive Pittsburgh weatherman who is assigned to cover the Groundhog Day ceremonies in Punxsutawney along with his producer and cameraman. By some supernatural occurrence, he is forced to relive that day countless times until he eventually reforms himself into a decent human being and wins the love of his producer, thus breaking the loop. There have always been debates about how long Murray's character spends in this predicament (eventually killing himself, killing the groundhog, attempting crazy stunts, and taking easy women before using his infinite time to his betterment), though director and co-writer Harold Ramis has postulated that the loop lasted for anywhere between 10 and 40 years. More interesting about Groundhog Day is the fact that it caused the split between the famed Ghostbusters alums that lasted more than a decade. Murray, who was in the midst of a nasty divorce at the time, refused to work amicably with Ramis on fine-tuning the script after the two disagreed on the direction the film should take (Murray opting for philosophy and Ramis for comedy), disappearing after shooting was finished and refusing to associate with or speak about Ramis again. Despite this unfortunate circumstance, the charm of Ramis' version of Groundhog Day is surprisingly enduring, and the tantrum-prone disposition of Murray was a perfect match for his character. The repetitive nature of the script caused certain parts of the film's soundtrack to become firmly engrained in audiences' memories after hearing the same pieces of music over and over again. This association typically involves the Sonny and Cher song "I Got You Babe" (which plays on the alarm clock radio to signal the arrival of another repeated day) and the "Pennsylvania Polka," the spirited accordion song that plays with choral accompaniment in the fictitious square established in the film to house the ceremonies. Either one could drive you mad after the fourth or fifth replay, but that's the point!

Mixed in between all of the source placements in Groundhog Day (which range from modern rock to classical piano) is a George Fenton score that typifies the composer's wide range of comedy techniques. He also contributed a pair of rock songs ("Weatherman," which accompanies the aerial shots that open the film, and the far smoother "Take Me Round Again") that are, all things considered, quite listenable. The score is a haphazard ride through the lead character's tortured journey, spanning the realms of light waltzes to stylish jazz, crime caper silliness, contemporary action, and light orchestral romance. There is a theme that inhabits the last of those genres, introduced in "You Like Boats But Not the Ocean" and reprised in the grim "Sometimes People Just Die" and redemptive "The Ice Sculpture." But this idea is as generic as you might expect for a score clearly taking a secondary role in the film. Although Fenton's application of each genre is competent, none of his cues really stands out and retains your attention. Perhaps "Drunks" is an exception to this observation, if only because its electric guitar intrusion into appropriately drunken jazz tones is so bizarre. A certain level of cheesiness is embodied best by "The Kidnap and the Quarry," which handles the chase scene with hokey mannerisms and an underpowered ensemble. The album, which combines most of the important source pieces in nine tracks (minus Ray Charles' performance of "You Don't Know Me") with nine of Fenton's rather short cues occupying the other half, is really nothing more than an adequate souvenir for enthusiasts of the film. Score fans will find nothing memorable, and the mainstream will likely seek the product for one or more specific source pieces. Some will be pleased to find both the film version and an additional performance of "Eighteenth Variation From Rapsodie on a Theme of Paganini," a romantic highlight of the story. The most likely attraction, strangely enough, is the "Pennsylvania Polka," which sounds really good in the film because of a wet mix (which transfers to the album, too) and is so infectiously obnoxious that you can't help but smirk at it. If you require a piece of exuberant accordion music with which to torture your roommates, in-laws, or co-workers, or to simply cause awkward situations for comedic purposes, the wild accordion-only, non-vocal interlude to "Pennsylvania Polka" is worth the price of this album alone. Give any bystander ten seconds of that track and anybody who has seen the film will be able to recall it from memory. That, ladies and gentlemen, is expert music employment in a movie, and whether or not you can tolerate this soundtrack, you have to appreciate what it provides to the film. By all means, watch the movie first.

• Music as Written for the Film: ***
• Music as Heard on Album: **
• Overall: ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 44:24

• 1. Weatherman* - performed by Delbert McClinton (4:18) • 2. Clouds* (1:10) • 3. I Got You Babe - performed by Sonny & Cher (3:12) • 4. Quarter No. 1 in D - The Groundhog (2:08) • 5. Take Me Round Again* - performed by Susie Stevens (3:06) • 6. Drunks* (2:17) • 7. Pennsylvania Polka - performed by Frankie Yankovic (2:24) • 8. You Like Boats But Not the Ocean* (1:41) • 9. Phil Getz the Girl* (3:31) • 10. Phil Steals the Money* (1:21) • 11. You Don't Know Me - performed by Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra (4:12) • 12. The Kidnap and the Quarry* (2:50) • 13. Sometimes People Just Die* (1:39) • 14. Eighteenth Variation From Rapsodie on a Theme of Paganini - performed by Elizabeth Buccheri (3:34) • 15. Medley: Phil's Piano Solo/Eighteenth Variation From Rapsodie on a Theme of Paganini - performed by Terry Fryer (1:49) • 16. The Ice Sculpture* (2:05) • 17. A New Day* (1:26) • 18. Almost Like Being in Love - performed by Nat King Cole (1:52)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.

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