day 32 1/2 - Groundhog Day

OK film fans, today is February 2, which can only mean one thing woodchuck chuckers, it's Groundhog Day! Let's make this clear right now; I am a huge Bill Murray fan. My sense of humor was shaped by his characters on SNL (when it actually mattered) and his early films like Meatballs, Caddyshack and Stripes. He is, in the words of Roger Ebert, "the first comedian since Jack Benny who can get a laugh simply by standing there."

Groundhog Day is centered on an absurd but simple premise; a weatherman working an assignment in a town he hates, on a story he finds beneath him, finds himself living the same day over and over again. And he is the only person aware of this happening. It is through the combination of the script, the direction and the performance of Murray that a timeless comedy masterpiece, with a profound moral and spiritual message, is created.

Let's break it down. Murray's character, Phil (like the groundhog) represents the worst of our inner selves. He is arrogant and sarcastic; absorbed in his own problems, without hope he has isolated himself from others. He is already condemned to a repetitive existence, where the weather changes but never his shtick, before his wake up call begins. One of the main reasons this film works is because of the persona Murray brings to the screen. He easily establishes Phil as a jerk without histrionics. He doesn't have to because Murray has the snide, self absorbed persona down pat. But the true reveal comes from how Murray transitions Phil from pariah to town saint.

The film begins with Phil in Punxsutawney, PA to cover the groundhog festival that takes place. It is one of those common human interest stories on local news that serve as no real purpose other than to lighten the mood after stories of earthquakes, home foreclosures and violence. To Phil it is a dead end. In a perpetually irritated mood, he treats everyone shabbily with his underhanded comments, including his long suffering cameraman Larry (the under heralded Chris Elliot) and his new producer Rita (Andie MacDowell). He rushes through his groundhog story eager to leave the town full of "hicks."

Phil awakes the next morning with a sense of deja vu, feeling like everything has already happened. By the third day he realizes that time is no longer advancing for him and he is stuck in Punxsutawney. At first he reacts with bewilderment but soon turns to despair and turns his life into a game. He gets arrested, risks his life, gorges on food, steals and manipulates women into bed.

As his days run together Phil discovers a new purpose: to learn everything he can about Rita so he can pretend to be her ideal man and seduce her. Rita is the moral and spiritual opposite of Phil, happy, inquisitive and fully engaged with those around her, even Phil. We see him build his repertoire and come surprisingly close to garnering her affections, only to be rightfully rejected and never reach his "special moment" with her again. He is a false man and Rita can sense something is off.

Despair deepens for Phil and he turns to a new game, killing himself. He tries countless times and always awakes in the morning to the unbearably happy sound of Sonny and Cher singing "I Got You, Babe." In a moment of vulnerability, he describes his plight to Rita, convincingly predicting things that will happen around them as they sit in the local diner. Rita agrees to spend the day with him and see if his plight is true. She spends the night with him, platonically, only for Phil to wake up alone yet again.

But his day of intimacy with Rita, who seemed to genuinely like him for who he is, has changed his outlook on his predicament. He begins to live each day constructively, not passively letting circumstances dictate his life. He begins to change, aided by the knowledge that each new day will be the same, safe in his knowledge of what will happen next. He learns to play piano, takes up ice sculpting and slowly becomes a more generous man. However, it is his brush with death that pushes Phil into the next stage.

Phil comes across a homeless man and, in his newly acquired sense of generosity, seeks to help the man. But regardless of Phil's efforts the man always passes away by the end of the day. At first he cannot accept the man's death and tries urgently to prevent his death. When Phil stops trying to stop the death of the old man and relents in its inevitability, his final defenses slip away and his compassion turns to the living. He uses his knowledge daily to catch a young boy falling from a tree and save a man choking on his meal. He begins to empathize with others and transitions from isolation to complete immersion in the community of Punxsutawney.

When Phil gives his Chekhov speech he has reached his moment of enlightenment. He has learned the simple pleasures of life and the sense of belonging that comes from companionship with your fellow man. He has become a better Phil, not a different Phil, a man worthy of Rita's affections and she no longer resistant to his pursuit, in fact she pursues him. Phil has righted his moral compass and now when they spend the night together, once again platonically, he is rewarded with the endless possibilities of a new day. He promptly takes advantage of this gift by spending some none platonic time with Rita. When we see the couple emerging into a new day he exclaims, "It's so beautiful - let's live here!" After they kiss he adds, "We'll rent to start." While "happily ever after" is a fine notion, Phil has learned it is best to start slow.

Groundhog Day is a fabulous comedy that successfully delivers messages of self-improvement, morality and spirituality. It emphasizes the need to look inside oneself and realize that true satisfaction in life comes from turning outward and concerning oneself with other rather concentrating solely on one's own wants and desires. It reflects Buddhist themes of selflessness and rebirth while also representing Catholic ideas of Purgatory. It has even been dubbed by some religious leaders as the "most spiritual film of our time."