A QUESTION OF TIMING (PALM SPRINGS)

When you get an idea as brilliantly executed as Harold Ramis' timeloop comedy 'Groundhog Day,' it's really hard to better it.

And that probably explains why few writers and directors of comedies have taken up the challenge, with producers preferring to apply the concept instead to other genres.

Over the years, time loops have featured in films as varied as Disney's straight to video animation 'Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas,' Christopher Landon's horror franchise,  'Happy Death Day' and 'Happy Death Day 2 U,' Doug Liman and Joe Carnahan's sci-fi action films 'Edge of Tomorrow: Live, Die, Repeat' and 'Boss Level' and Shawn Levy's recent hi-tech comedy action adventure 'Free Guy'.

Even this year's Best Live Action Short winner at the Oscars, Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe's 'Two Distant Strangers' on Netflix gave the timeloop concept a Black Lives Matter twist.

Depending on your opinion of his directorial debut 'Palm Springs,' Max Barbakow has either been really brave or extremely foolish to taking on a timeloop comedy.

The Amazon Prime film starring 'Saturday Night Live' alumnus Andy Sandberg, JK Simmons and Cristin Milioti is built around a wedding in the Californian hot spot.

Milioti plays Sarah who is bridesmaid to her sister Camilla Mendes' Tala at her wedding to Tyler Hoechlin's Abe.

The black sheep of the family because of her tendency to booze and sleep around, Sarah is harbouring a secret - she has cheated on her sister with her fiancé.

At the wedding reception, she finds herself attracted to Samberg's Nyles - a carefree, inebriated wedding guest who doesn't really seem to give a monkey's about the occasion.

Nyles is a guest courtesy of his girlfriend, Meredith Hagner's Misty who is Tala's bridesmaid but you sense from the off that something is not quite right about the relationship and with him in particular.

During sex, he is oddly detached and seems bored. 

And while others at the wedding fuss about what they wear, Nyles spends much of the day by the swimming pool and turns up at the ceremony, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and guzzling beer.

Before long, Nyles chats up Sarah at the reception and the two of them retreat into the desert to have a one night stand.

During their rendezvous, however, Nyles is struck by an arrow fired from the rocks.

Wounded, he crawls into a nearby cave, insisting Sarah mustn't follow him.

Concerned for his wellbeing, she ignores him and is sucked into a vortex, waking up on the morning of her sister's wedding again.

Seeking Nyles out, she confronts him about why she is repeating November 9 and is taken aback by his claim that she has entered a timeloop.

Nyles, who has been struggling to get out of reliving November 9 for some time, reveals the day resets if those stuck in the timeloop fall asleep or die.

After taking some time to absorb this new reality, Sarah becomes as devil may care as Nyles, striking up a close friendship with him and enjoying their wild adventures together.

However JK Simmons' wedding guest Roy is also stuck and we realise he is the archer who attacked Nyles.

Frustrated at being inadvertently trapped in the same day, he has taken to venting his anger by hunting down Nyles.

Will Sarah, Nyles and Roy ever get out of the cycle of forever repeating the same day?

Will Roy ever forgive Nyles?

And as they try to break the cycle, what will each of them learn about themselves in the process?

Working from a screenplay by Andy Siara, Barbakow unapologetically takes on Ramis' 'Groundhog Day' and does a creditable job embracing the timeloop premise.

Much of this is down to Siara's script which is witty, well executed and simply fun.

There is something wonderfully perverse about a film with the same premise as 'Groundhog Day' not even specifically referencing it as some lesser comedies might have done.

'Palm Springs' just goes about its business.

Building on the solid foundation of Siara's script, Samberg and Milioti are good value as partners in crime thrown together by the timeloop and they have a certain, spiky chemistry.

Simmons once again steals the show as a man who would rather be living normally instead of reliving the same date all over again.

Peter Gallagher and Jacqueline Obradors are also in fine form as Sarah's dad and stepmum, while June Squibb amuses as Abe's grandma.

Hoechlin and Mendes also do what is required in their supporting roles, while Hagner is very amusing as Nyles' girlfriend.

'Palm Springs' wears its central characters' imperfections on its sleeves and never really apologises - which is the way it ought to be.

While the movie revels in Sarah and Nyles' outsider status and detached cynicism, like 'Groundhog Day' the film has a soft, romantic core that manages to pierce through its sarcasm.

And while it doesn't quite supplant Ramis' classic, it comes within touching distance of doing it - delivering many laughs along the way.

Giving Samberg his best comedy vehicle to date, Barakow and Siara mark themselves out as a director and writer to watch.

The challenge now is for them to build on the bravery and the sense of fun of 'Palm Springs' and embrace the quirk.

('Palm Springs' received its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2020 and was made available for streaming on Amazon Prime in the UK and Ireland on April 9, 2021)