Today is Groundhog Day and I’m hoping to watch one of my favourite movies – The 1993 cult classic, Groundhog Day! Over the years I have discovered that people’s opinions about it fall into two categories – either they love it or they hate it.
When you find a really good movie it’s kind of like finding a treasure because they seem to be rather rare and difficult to find. Let me commend Groundhog Day to you.
I loved it the first time I saw it. And I like it more every time I watch it. I pick little things up each time that I didn’t catch before. I have probably seen it a couple of dozen times now. So, let me tell you why I love it.
They say this type of humour isn’t for everyone. But it’s hilarious. (And yes, Florence loves it too and we always watch it together.) It’s crazy funny, but that’s not why I love it. Groundhog Day is a story of a transformed life. That’s what makes it a great movie. When the story opens, the main character, Phil Conners, played brilliantly by Bill Murray, is a miserable human being. He’s a Weatherman for a Pittsburgh news station sent to Punxsutawney, PA to cover the groundhog story, which he detests. He is a conceited and belligerent soul who cares for no one but himself. He is inconsiderate and condescending toward everyone around him, especially the everyday folks of Punxsutawney.
There is a fantastical element to the story, of course, that sees Phil (also the name of the groundhog) waking up to relive the same day (Groundhog Day) over and over and over again. This is probably where the movie becomes silly for some but existential for others. A lot of us can feel stuck in our lives as each day becomes just like the one before it. We can be miserable cranks, even descending at times into hopelessness or despondency. Because nothing ever really changes – unless something happens to wake us up to the fact that we don’t have to live that way.
So, in the movie Phil wakes up to the same day, Groundhog Day, every day, day after day. And nothing changes; nothing that is except for Phil. The story is hilarious with great characters and some of the best comedic lines, but it is the transformation of Phil’s heart that makes the movie. As you watch you get to see Phil’s heart change progress through stages such as you might expect. These different stages are marked by different scenes but some of the most poignant scenes I find are the ones of Phil reporting from Gobbler’s Nob on the groundhog seeing or not seeing his shadow each day ….“Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah … When Chekhov saw the long winter …”
Bill Murray is one amazing actor, but you have to give it to the writers too. It’s a great story. We get to watch as at first there is total shock. Then he becomes frantic. (Some really funny stuff there!) This quickly turns to sheer horror as the reality of his situation more fully dawns on him. Then there is elation accompanied by feelings of immortality. With these new ‘powers’ he begins to leverage the knowledge he’s able to gain for all sorts of hedonistic pleasures. This doesn’t last long though (hedonism is hollow even quite apart from the consequences). Phil becomes reflective, hopeful even, and more thoughtful. But then comes dejection and despair as he finds his life void of not only meaning but love.
Then it happens. Phil begins to care about people – the very ordinary people of Punxsutawney! This is where the movie really punches. As the story draws to a close, standing together on the front step of the little country inn there in the little town of Punxsutawney, a new day dawns. Phil turns to Rita and says, “Let’s live here!” The transformation is complete.
Yah, he gets the girl but there’s more to the story, a lot more.