My family loves tradition. Every February 2nd, we gather together in front of a roaring, wood flamed, environmentally-unfriendly fire and watch The Greatest Conservative Movie of All Time.
Bill Murray in Groundhog Day
For the record, it’s not “The Ten Commandments.” It’s not even “Red Dawn.” It’s “Groundhog Day” featuring Bill Murray as his snarkiest.
Murray’s movies have always been quotable; in fact, I believe you risk breaking several local and federal regulations if you don’t invoke at least one Caddyshack quote during every round of golf. (I’m especially proud of the fact that I was once able to use the phrase, “Your honor, Your Honor,” with true intent and boundless glee while golfing with a Superior Court judge back in Ohio.)
“Groundhog Day” is filled with the kind of language that should make every conservative heart sing:
• “Don’t drive angry.”
• “Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn’t one today.”
• “This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.”
“Groundhog Day” displays timeless conservative themes. National Review, in its “Top Conservative Movies of All Time,” said “For the conservative, the moral of the tale is that redemption and meaning are derived not from indulging your ‘authentic’ instincts and drives, but from striving to live up to external and timeless ideals.”
In fact, NR’s Jonah Goldberg has created a cottage industry for his seminal essay on the film, called “A Movie for All Time.” Read it and you’ll understand why this modern morality play is more than just a clever comedy. (Here’s the link)
It’s a conservative manifesto on the redemptive nature of good men everywhere. And worth watching, over and over and over again.