Groundhog Day

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Screening Suggestions

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I thought I'd wrap up the month of February's Screening Suggestions somewhat appropriately, covering a film that takes place at the beginning of February, directed by the great Harold Ramis, who sadly passed six years ago, just yesterday. This is a title that hardly needs an introduction, and ends up on a lot of favourite lists. I once considered this one to be good, but slightly overrated, and didn't quite get what made it so special. Nowadays, however, it's easier to shed a positive light on it when the core themes really start to click with my adult mind.

We meet Phil Conners (Bill Murray) who works as a weatherman for the Pittsburgh station, WPBH-TV. Generally seen as cynical and egotistical, he reluctantly works a job in the small, real-life town of Punxutawney, Pennsylvania. Here, with his crew consisting of the station's new producer, the beautiful Rita (​Andie MacDowell) and cameraman, Larry (Chris Elliot), they cover the February 2nd Groundhog Day Festival. Being that this is his fourth time covering the same fluff story, Phil wants to be in and out of the town quickly. But the weather has different plans, and a blizzard snows them in town for the night.

Upon waking up at his bed and breakfast on what he believes to be the next day, Phil soon realizes that he's reliving the same day. Passing it off as a bad case of déjà vu at first, he wakes up on the same day again, and again. Realizing this, he first sees it as a gift where he can get away with anything without having to suffer any consequences, but soon finds his lows when he sees the day inescapable and hopeless.

Soon enough, he falls for Rita, and uses his constant time loop to do anything in his power to impress her and win her over. With this, he often learns the hard way that actions have consequences. Each day, he goes about things in different ways, learning what works and what doesn't. This curse to repeat the same day, multiple times with multiple outcomes, also ends up being a gift. With it, he can learn a lot, not only from his mistakes, but how some simple decisions can turn a horrible day into a fantastic day, and that's the real takeaway from this.

Speaking personally, I find this to be a big lesson for how to live your best life. This starts out being a horrible day for Phil, but as he repeats it, he gets to know the people of the town, Rita, Larry, and even himself. I also take it as a great appreciation for something along the lines of the multiverse, and could see this as Phil living the same day in a different universe every time he wakes up - every universe being a new opportunity, and every decision he makes creating a new reality for him to wake up to. That's just a consideration. There's nothing wrong with the idea of a time loop, if you prefer. Either way, the point that your decisions can influence your happiness is there and clear.

And so, we wrap up the feel-good month of February on a high note. The more I see this movie, the more I like what it's trying to do. In it's own way, the story is completely timeless, and even for a 1993 movie, it works very well today. The time loop's estimate is debatable, but coming from Ramis, himself, he mentions it spanning anywhere from 10 to 40 years. In the spiritual sense, he could be stuck in this loop for a full 10,000 years in relation to the Buddhist culture, which suggests it takes that long for the soul to evolve to its next level. So it's honestly anybody's guess, but I feel like 10,000 years must be a stretch to get one day perfect. In the end, the mere hour and 40 minutes the film takes to tell the story is all that's needed. This is one for the soul, especially on one of those bad days. Remember, we get tomorrow to improve ourselves, and this is a film that begs us not to take such things for granted.

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