‘Groundhog Day’

This 1993 fairy tale may not be the funniest collaboration between Bill Murray and director Harold Ramis, but this gentle effort is easily the most endearing film of both men’s careers thus far. Murray (pictured) stars as a Pittsburgh TV weatherman who is so self-involved that he’s convinced he doesn’t just report the weather, he creates it. He hates nothing more than having to journey to rural Punxsutawney once a year and participate the unsophisticated shenanigans centering on whether a groundhog does or does not see his shadow. First-time writer Danny Rubin, who co-wrote the script with Ramis, wonders what would happen if this guy discovered he would be forced to relive Groundhog Day, not just once a year, but day after day, ad infinitum. With Andie MacDowell as his pleasant foil, Murray turns the film into a funny little Valentine. (HBO Saturday at 9 p.m., next Sunday at 4:30 a.m.)