In reliving one particular day over and over, Groundhog Day, the character played masterfully by Bill Murray explores all the possibilities of a single day. He gets to know everyone he meets. He experiments with saving people from death, with falling in love, and finally comes to terms with life, with living in his own skin. He was previously self-absorbed and shallow, greedy and cynical. He is transformed by his experience. What was that experience? He became, in his words, like a God. The strange circumstances he temporarily existed in, a repetition of time, from falling asleep to waking up, allowed him - practically forced him- to wake up, to see things from a different point of view. He was made into an outsider in his own land. He was handed a point of view akin to that of the spiritual mystic, who isolates themselves from society in order to ascertain the nature of their existence as if by a method of triangulation. Triangulation is a nautical principle by which one makes two observations separated by distance in order to find out one's true position. This seems to be a credible analogy for the Buddhist concept of reincarnation. What's the difference between reliving a single day or a single life? I only hope to live one perfect day. A perfect day is every day. It only waits for your participation.
Of you want to see an even better movie based on the same topic then you should watch Triangle. Much better than Groundhog Day in regards to getting you to think, but Groundhog Day is richer in Philosophy.
Should have been less shallowly mean to the cameraman, didn't follow up on the alienation scenes (you don't see him learning to be kind), left too many loose ends (in the final salvation day, had he stolen the money yesterday?) and just plain punted on the ending. A great opportunity blown, in an odd way.
I thought he was learning to be kind when he started scheduling everything. He wanted to be able to catch the kid from falling out of the tree, feed the starving homeless man, increase the self-confidence of the fat business man, (and much more), and of course win over his love interest, all in one day.
I loved that movie, especially when he robs the truck so easily, or saves the guy in the restaraunt from choking. Or the piano lessons.
Who says that everyday is different? For all you know the day could just be recycled, it's just everybody else recycles the same day too creating Entropy. (The weather also plays an important part in this Entropy) If everyday was completely ordered and monotonous, could you actually exclaim there was ever more than just that one day being repeated?
As Janis Joplin said, "if you got it today you don't want it tomorrow, man, cause you don't need it, cause as a matter of fact, as we discovered in the train, tomorrow never happens, man its all the same fucking day, man." Ball and Chain
For me, Groundhog Day is one of the greatest movies ever because it teaches that: Life won't change unless you do. Despite all the "fun" stuff Phil did (although I agree with Gus about not driving on the railroad tracks), the honest truth kept returning to him, which is why he killed himself so many times. He blamed everyone around him (including the groundhog), he tried to do good deeds, but in the end, nothing allowed life to continue except for him changing deep down inside. An important lesson he learned was: All the fun in the world ... isn't. It's a movie that every parent can, and should, watch with their children of almost any age. There's no crude language, nudity or drugs (except booze), although he is apparently stabbed, shot, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted, and burned. Groundhog Day is an exposé of life right along with Chris Rock's Bigger and Blacker, which hits every nail on the head and then some. In B&B, if it was a white guy in a three-piece suit on stage saying the exact same thing, they'd boo him off stage or walk out on him. Re-think comedy. There's an awful lot of in-your-face truth and earnest redeeming value in many comedies (except anything starring Will Ferrell :bugeyePlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!.
