This series is dedicated to matching memorable movies with the signature day each year upon which I could watch them forever. If any movie must be watched on the titular day that it proclaims, it must be…
Groundhog Day (1993, Columbia Pictures,
Harold Ramis)
The movie starts with polka music and a beautiful sky. Telling? We'll see.…
"Four, Nan. Four." Love that opening weather forecast scene. Phil (
Bill Murray) comes off precisely as he should. Charismatic but smarmy. Witty but abrasive. Funny but crass. I'm not sure that it's actually acting in the sense of inhabiting another personality, but Bill Murray is easily one of the most natural and talented comedic actors EVER. (The number 4, "almost from prehistoric times, was employed to signify what was solid, what could be touched and felt. Its relationship to the cross [four points] made it an outstanding symbol of wholeness and universality, a symbol which drew all to itself." Kinda like Phil's journey in the film. Plus, in Japanese, it's the number of death!)
There may be no song in all of movie history more synonymous with the scene it features in than does Sonny & Cher's, "I Got You, Babe" in Groundhog Day. And so it begins!
"Am I right? Or am I right? Or am I right? Right?!" I have used that line before in real life conversations.
Phil is such the epitome of the cynical, jaded American man (or woman). He benefits from the life he leads, but despises everything and everyone about it. And the odyssey he is set to endure is a hopeful if not painful lesson in how one like him can regain their humanity and make peace with themself, God, and the world. There probably isn't a comedy with more truth and life lessons in it than this one.
And if you think a comedy like this isn't actually funny, I've seen this movie more than a half-dozen times at this point, and within the first 15 minutes I've already laughed out loud twice. But, honestly, it isn't a "yuck-yuck" comedy. Much of the humor is found in the simple interactions and natural situations that arise. You can't find it everywhere. It's gold.
Groundhog Day, from a production standpoint, is also probably one of the most genius films ever put to screen. The reuse of locations and scenes/takes must have been purely calculation and it works without ever becoming tired.
I love how the crowd chants "Phil! Phil! Phil!" when Punxsutawney is pulled from the hatch. It's the cosmos calling Murray's character.
Phil gets desperate upon the third day. "I'm reliving the same day over and over," he says. That applies to so many of us. Not literally. Metaphorically. Like so much truth. It's a biblical level of truth that the movie hits on here. And all should see it.
Love Harold Ramis's cameo as the doctor that suggests a psychiatrist. (Fellow
Ghostbusters alums.) Apparently, Murray and Ramis really fought over things during the making of this film. It's too bad for them personally. But it made for a great product.
The "Mrs. Lancaster kiss" scene through the "cafe donut and dessert eating" scene is the beginning of his chaotic evil period. Phil goes through several
alignment changes over the course.
Estimates online say Phil relives Groundhog Day 12,395 times! I'm gonna take a guess here and claim that he's lived the day over at least 50 times when he attempts the robbery: probably >20 times once he has the idea, and >50 times to have the theft practiced down to the level he demonstrates in the movie.
The "sweet Vermouth on the rocks with a twist" scene through the "I studied 19th century French poetry" scene is his neutral evil or even chaotic neutral period. He is improving, but only for himself and what he wants. Namely Rita.
The snowball fight scene after Phil's first slap from Rita is a laugh riot. "Are any of you up for adoption?"
The slow motion drop of the 6:00 AM is such an image.
By the time Phil resolves to kidnap and die with Punxsutawney, he has become a sort of insane true neutral. I reckon he dies at least a few dozen different ways.
And by the time he has convinced Rita that something is going on with him and she stays with him past midnight, he has become neutral good.
When he does all he can to prevent the old man from dying, Phil hits lawful good.
The romantic and dramatic parts of the film are just as fun to watch as the comedic ones. The whole piano party sequence and bachelor bidding is the climax, and it plays out with warmth and good humor. The movie ends with a sense of purpose and renewed spirit. The only time it gets corny at all is at the very end, when Phil and Rita seemingly decide to live in Punxsutawney. However, it really feels less corny and more earned when you consider how cynical a view that is and how vain a notion it is—the film's corniness—to hold on to. I recommend to let it go and enjoy the movie all the way through the "Weatherman" song during the credits!
A taken as a whole, this movie still has a very telling message for the modern mind.
February 2 — 4 of 365 logged
