In high school, we all had that one guy in class who knew what the hell was going on. If you were in a hard class like math, you would find this guy at some point in the day and run your math problems by him just to make sure they were correct. You knew that if you didn't have this guy, you would have failed the test easily.
Harold Ramis was that guy in comedy.
Although the people he worked with usually tended to get all the spotlight put on them, he was always usually the guy in the background making sure everything worked right. It was always subtle, but when one realizes the scope of Ramis's work, one sees what an amazing career he had.
The list of films he helped write or direct were endless: Animal House, Meatballs, Caddyshack, Stripes, National Lampoon's Vacation, Ghostbusters, Back to School, Groundhog Day, Multiplicity, Analyze This, The Ice Harvest.
A few common threads emerge when you look at this list of films. For one thing, even though these films were comedies, most of them had a very sound structure and plot. The jokes and the humor were hysterical, but at their best they never overtook the films.
Look at Ghostbusters for instance. One of my all time favorite films. This is a film that has very complicated effects. Most films these days would let the effects do the work for them. Dazzle the audience to make sure they don't notice the lack of humor in the movie. But Ramis and co-writer Dan Aykroyd wrote a script that put character first. You felt the camaraderie that this group of guys had with each other. They had a history together. That probably came from Ramis and Aykroyd's working history with some of the actors in the film. But it worked like a charm and it is still one of the most quoted films ever due to this reason.
Ramis also liked writing about characters who were always up against the establishment, the elite, or anyone who were snobbish and thought they were better than anyone else. Caddyshack was a prime example. The battle between the "slobs" versus the "snobs" was the stuff of comedy legend. Animal House was another prime example, with it's battle of competing fraternities.
But in 1993, Ramis directed and co-wrote what many people (including myself) consider his best film: Groundhog Day. This film works simply because of Ramis and Murray. At this point the two of them had worked together so much, you could almost feel the shorthand between the two of them work itself out into the film. The performance Murray gives is effortless. But for Ramis, the film represented a change. Phil Connors, Murray's character, starts off like one of the typically snobbish characters that Ramis had written about in the past. But as the film progresses and as Phil continues to live Groundhog Day over and over and over again, we see Phil become a better man. He is not as rude to the people around him and he even appreciates life a little more. It was almost as if Ramis learned to let go of the bitterness he had for characters like this. It marked a change for Ramis and it was one that helped got him more respect.
At the time in 1993, Groundhog Day was only a moderate hit. But over the years it has gained a ton of respect and many people now consider it a classic. The same has been said about Caddyshack and even Ghostbusters. Much like the kid we never really thought about helping us with the homework in high school, you never really appreciate someone till they are gone. Harold Ramis was never a big star in life. But seeing the films he helped create, the moments he made memorable, he is a talent that will be missed.
Tell them about the Twinkie.
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