48. Bill Murray as Phil Connors
      Groundhog Day (1993)

Romantic comedies rarely get this meta. Actors on location enact a script about a man reliving the same day in the same small town so many times he may as well be an actor on location enacting a script. Cue Bill Murray, his sarcasm and wit cut with sincerity—or is it a put-on?—and suddenly you realize you’ve spent the last 101 minutes both laughing and wanting to smack his misanthropic, Sisyphean weatherman. Murray used the repetition as a springboard for improv, to the point where no one on the set knew what he would do next. That diner scene? He actually ate that table full of food. We’d spend a never-ending day with him anytime.

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