GROUNDHOG DAY

By: Brianne Thompson, Zach Marin, Daniel Badillo, Jacqui Gray, Chris Price, Keenan Parra

Quick Film Facts: 1993 American Romantic-

Comedy, directed by Harold Ramis.

Screenplay written by Harold Ramis and Danny Rubin

Produced by Trevor Albert and Harold Ramis

Mostly filmed in Woodstock, Illinois

Running Time 101 minutes Budget: $14.6 million Gross Revenue: $70,906,973

Story: Groundhog Day is a film that

centers around a self-centered, egocentric Pittsburgh TV weatherman from news-station, WPBH-9, named Phil Connors [Bill Murray] who is sent on a trip for the 4th time, to Punxsutawney, Philadelphia, with his new producer Rita [Andie MacDowell] and cameraman, Larry [Chris Elliot], to cover the festivities of Groundhog Day. Phil cannot wait to return to Pittsburgh, as he loathes Groundhog Day and the whole town in general.

Story: Soon, he finds that the day, February 2 (Groundhog

Day), is repeating, and realizes he must reexamine his choices and outlook on life, or else relive the same day for eternity. Throughout the film, Phil develops a fondness for Rita, and tries relentlessly to win her over, understanding along the way that life has meaning, when he learns how to make it worth living.

Is it a Good Story? Unified Plot: every scene has a purpose,

the audience learns more and more about Phil, as the plot “thickens”.

Credibility: the story is realistic, often we find ourselves falling in love, everyone learns from their mistakes.

Externally Observable Truths: Phil has certain characteristics that we can all relate to; Phil’s sarcasm is a perfect example.

Is it a Good Story? Simple, but Complex: The audience particularly

focuses on the love interest between Phil and Rita, and Phil’s obstacles, but the film is also complex, as the audience starts to understand its morals, and message.

Handles Emotional Material with Restraint: While Groundhog Day, may be a romantic comedy, it is done in a very different style, focusing on main character Phil. The movie is never too “sappy” for the audience, but also has very sweet moments between Phil and Rita.

Meaning: Emotional: Groundhog Day is a

romantic, satirical, and comedic film that keeps the audience laughing, and even crying, as we slowly come to love the main character, Phil.

Referential: Many people that live outside the United States, might not know what Groundhog day is, or what we are celebrating.

Parallelism: The entire story of Groundhog Day is

about parallelism. One can assume that it has been years from the accomplishments he has done such as ice sculpting and piano, with only slight differences in what happens that Phil Connors creates with different dialogue and changing the fate of others.

Characterization: Characterization: The central character, Phil Connors, is an

arrogant, egotistic, Scrooge-like character. The film focuses mainly on him reliving Groundhog Day and how it changes him to the person he is February. Before the repetition of February second, Phil Connors is portrayed as a conceited weatherman who basks in his own glory and fame. His sarcastic remarks and rude nature influences the perspective of the audience. We feel disgust and dislike towards Phil Connors and his boastful nature. However after he experiences the years he lives in Groundhog day, we see a personality change in Phil Connors as he tries to gain the appreciation of Rita and has an epiphany that the reason he was stuck in Groundhog Day because of his personality.

Characterization: We feel pity for him in the middle of the

film as he goes trough a suicidal phase and hits rock bottom after he delivers a monologue about the cold dismal winter that is coming for the rest of our lives. Then, as we see progress in his change, we feel friendly towards Phil and like him as a character.

Characterization: Rita, another main character, can be

seen as Phil’s catalyst for him beginning to change as he does most of his good actions to acquire the attention and appreciation of her. Rita can most recognizably represent purity, innocence, and almost an angelic character throughout the movie.

Setting: The setting of Groundhog Day takes

place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania During winter of February 1st through the third. This was a symbolic time to choose for the movie because it is the transition of winter to spring which is almost synonymous with change and renewal.

Plot: The plot device used, is called a Time

Loop, where time runs from as long as an hour to a day (like in Groundhog Day). The time “resets”, and the memories of most characters are erased. The plot advances, by having a central character retaining his/her memory, being aware of the Time Loop.

Plot: The movie is not in real time, the

audience sees small snippets of Phil’s life in Punxsutawney.

The movie opens at the beginning of Phil’s journey to Punxsutawney, for the Groundhog festival, and ends on February 3, the time between those two days is spread out over a long period of time, since G-Day keeps resetting.

Plot: We are told by director, Harold Ramis,

that Phil has relived groundhog for about 10 years, in order to gain skills like ice sculpting, playing the piano, and remembering French poetry, etc) but many fans of Groundhog day believe that Phil could have perhaps been stuck in the time loop for a thousand years! The audience is never told exactly how long Phil is in Punxsutawney, but we are shown 37 days of his life there.

Plot: In the film, Phil goes through what Ramis calls, the

Five Stages of Death: 1st: Denial- Phil does not accept the fact that he is in a

time-loop. 2nd: Anger- Phil is angry about the time loop, takes it

out on people around him. 3rd: Depression- Phil becomes deeply depressed, and

eventually suicidal. 4th: Bargaining- Phil tries to do whatever her can to

escape the time-loop. 5th: Acceptance- Phil accepts the time-loop and uses it

to benefit himself and learn.

Plot: There is a total of 37 days depicted in the

film, though there are days that are mentioned/implied, but not shown or purposeful to the plot.

The plot is presented in chronological order, though time resets, like a broken record. Phil is the only character that realizes the time loop, therefore, he is the only character that has a sense of time that has passed.

Plot: The film starts; behind the credits, is a

cloudy blue sky, perhaps alluding that God, or another higher-power will cause Phil to relive Groundhog Day, so that Phil can learn about himself, and learn the right way to live his life.

Plot: On a live newscast on the channel WPBH-9, Phil predicts

that the blizzard will not hit Pittsburgh, and will instead push off and hit Altoona. He later explains that he will be visiting Punxsutawney, for the annual G-Day festivities, which he is not looking forward to. (The beginning scenes in the movie are to explain to the audience, how Phil got to Punxsutawney, why he was there, and to “tease” the relationship between Phil and Rita, but not to inform the audience to why Phil is cursed with the upcoming time loop.

Plot: Phil, along with producer,

Rita, and camera-man, Larry, drive to Punxsutawney, all while Phil jokes around, being sarcastic.

They arrive in Punxsutawney, Phil is sent to a Bed-and-Breakfast, instead of the hotel that Rita and Larry are staying.

Plot: Phil wakes up for the first time in the

movie, on G-Day, to the music “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher, and a local radio-broadcast, wishing Phil a happy G-Day. He meets the man in the hallway, and is greeted by the care-taker woman, to whom he is sarcastic, and unkind to. These first scenes in Punxsutawney are meant to establish “Bad Phil”. (Day 1)

Plot:

On his way to Gobbler’s Nob, where the festivities are taking place, he passes the homeless man (a character that will later become very important), and is met by Ned Ryerson, whom Phil finds annoying and pushy. While Phil leaves Ned, he steps down the sidewalk, into a puddle, adding to Phil’s stress level.

Phil does his first report on G-Day, with much sarcasm, irritating Rita, while the “Groundhog Officials” behind him take out Phil the Groundhog, and tell the crowd, that indeed, there will be another six weeks of winter.

Plot: Phil, Rita, and Larry try to

escape Punxsutawney, but contrary to Phil’s prediction, the blizzard hits Punxsutawney, and the roads are shut-down. They are unable to leave.

Phil wakes up in his room again, with the same music, and same radio-broadcast. Phil experiences Déjà-vu, and begins to suspect that the day has repeated. (Day 2)

Plot: Phil leaves his room, meets the same man

in the hallway, Phil is asked the same exact questions and believes that the man is messing with him. Phil meets again with the care-taker woman, who also asks him the very same questions as the day before. At this point, Phil is very confused (These scenes, Phil is to discover the strange phenomena, and the audience can observe Phil’s reaction).

Plot: Phil meets Rita and Larry again, ready to shoot the

report on G-Day. Phil thinks he is going crazy, and tells Rita that there is something going terribly wrong. He finishes his report and goes back to the bed-and-breakfast immediately to get rest. Before going to bed, Phil breaks a pencil in half, and puts it on his nightstand, to test whether or not G-Day is repeating.

When Phil wakes, he checks the pencil, and to his horror, the pencil was no longer in halves. He knows for sure now, that G-Day is indeed, repeating. He leaves, meets Ned, tries to push him away this time, but Ned still follows. Phil steps in the puddle for the third time. (Day 3)

Plot: Every aspect of the day before is exactly the same,

the people and cars passing Phil as he makes his way to Gobbler’s Knob. Along the way, he meets Ned again, and is able to answer Ned’s questions correctly, since Phil learned them they day before. As he leaves, he steps down into the puddle again.

Plot: Phil does not do the report, but asks Rita to meet him

after they’re done, at the Tip Top café, to talk. Phil tells Rita exactly what is happening to him, and she does not believe anything he says. Larry comes to pick them up and leave Punx. but Phil knows there will be a blizzard, and that they will all be stuck again. Rita suggests that Phil seeks help, so Phil visits a Neurologist, and a psychologist, who are of no help to Phil.

Plot: Phil then visits a bowling alley, where he talks with

two other men about his problem. They perceive him as a guy who sees a glass as being “half empty” not “half full” which is a perfect description on Phil’s character. He realizes that if everyday is the same, and nothing that he did would matter, that he could get away with doing anything he wanted without any sever consequences, which is an adolescent way of thinking. Phil sees no future for himself, so he goes on a wild rampage in a car with the two other men, is sent to jail.

(Show scene: Ch. 10, 29 mins. 40 secs.)

Plot: Phil wakes up the next morning, without a scratch. He

feels empowered and is in a better mood, only because he does not realize he is a trap. On his way to Gobbler’s Knob, he meets Ned, this time he punches him in the face, because he knows nothing will matter the next day.; he also knows not to step in the puddle again. Phil “throws caution to the wind” as Rita says, when he goes to the Tip Top café with her and eats everything in sight. Rita is disgusted with Phil, and tells him how she feels about with a poem, describing his self-centeredness. On his way out, he asks a pretty woman named Nancy, questions about where she went to high school, in order to chat her up the next G-Day. (Day 4)

Plot: At Gobbler’s Knob, he sees Nancy and acts like

they went to the same high school in Pittsburgh, manipulating her into falling for him. He is successful. Later that night he making out with Nancy, when he accidentally says Rita’s name out loud. (The audience gets their first indication that Phil is in love with Rita). (Day 5)

Phil successfully steals a bag of money after many days of planning, calculating the time perfectly. (Day 6)

Plot: Phil is dressed up like Clint Eastwood, as he

attends the movie Heidi 2 with an unknown blonde woman dressed as a French maid. Why is he dressed up like Clint Eastwood? Simply, because he can.

After the report, Phil expresses interest in Rita, and asks her to have coffee at the Tip Top Café, and asks Rita “What her perfect guy would be like”. He is still very egotistical around Rita. Then Phil goes to the news van, and pulls out cables, so the car will not start. (Day 7)

Plot: Phil meets Rita at a bar and buys her a drink; she asks

for sweet Vermouth on the rocks with a twist, Phil asks for a Jim Bean, with ice and water.

Phil meets Rita at the bar again. This time he has already learned Rita’s favorite drink, and tries to impress her with his choice. He asks her what they should drink to and he says “The Groundhog!” while she tells him she always drinks to world peace. (Day 8)

Plot: Phil meets Rita at the bar again, and impresses her

again with his choice of drink. This time he drinks to world peace, but her reaction is awkward. (Day 9)

Phil takes Rita to a sweet shop and gets her chocolate. Now Phil is starting to make a list of what Rita does and does not like, so he can use it to woo her. Phil then takes her to a German restaurant, where he learns a little more about Rita’s past before she became a producer. When Rita tells him that she studied French poetry, he laughs but then realizes that he hurt Rita’s feelings. (Day 10)

Plot: The next time they visit the restaurant, when she

tells him she studied French poetry, he says a love poem in French. (Day 11)

They go to a park and make a snow-man together, when Phil expresses to Rita, that he wants to make snow-men with his children someday (he’s trying to be her perfect man) and they encounter teens in a snowball fight. When they fall together in the snow, they have a romantic, close moment. Then they dance together.

Rita tells Phil that she had a wonderful night with him, and Phil gets her to join him back at his room.

Plot: When in the room, Phil and Rita kiss, but Rita

is reluctant, while Phil is persistent, and pushy. Phil tries to manipulate her, when he tells her he loves her, then she replies “Love Me? You don’t even know me.” Phil thinks he loves her, but it’s not real, and she senses it. She gets angry at Phil, and tells him that she could never love him, because he loves only himself. It takes Phil a while to learn from his mistakes, and become a more loving person, and not so self centered.

Plot: They are in the park again, making a

snow-man. Phil is desperately trying to recapture the magic of the night before, that he and Rita made a conncection. (Day 12)

Next, is a series of slaps that Phil receives from Rita, as he tries to seduce her. (Days 13-20)

Phil passes a row of Groundhog sculptures, that is intended to symbolize him as being frozen; his emotions are frozen; time is frozen.

Plot: Phil looks terrible as he arrives for another G-Day

report, after his many rejections by Rita. Phil is in a depressed state. (Day 21)

Phil is working himself up into a suicidal depression, he has reached total nihilism. He expresses his disgust for G-day in another broadcast. (Day 22)

Phil destroys his alarm clock in anger (Days 23-25)

Plot: Phil does another upsetting report on G-

Day, in which he tells Larry and Rita that he has to stop Punxsutawney Phil. Phil decides to steal the truck with the groundhog inside, and drives away crazily as he is chased by the Groundhog officials and Larry and Rita. Phil then decides to drive the truck into the ditch, killing himself and the groundhog. (Day 26)

Plot: Phil wakes up the next morning,

unscathed, and keeps trying to kill himself. (Day 27-29)

The next day, at the Tip Top Café, Phil tries to explain to Rita that he is a god, because he survived so many suicides. Rita doesn’t believe him , so Phil goes around the café trying to convince by introducing her to everyone in the town, giving facts about them that he could only know if he lived in Punx. for a long time, not just one day. (Day 30)

Plot: She starts to suspect he’s telling the truth, he

tells her everything he knows about her, in a very sweet speech, and persuades her to stay with him for the rest of the day to be a witness.

While sitting on the bed, throwing playing cards, he tells her that he’s killed himself so many times, and that he is tired of the days repeating, but she tells him that it’s not a curse, and that it justs depends on the way he looks at it. (Phil needs to see this time loop as a learning experience.)

Plot: Rita waits for midnight, though, time resets at six,

but Rita waits with him anyway. The next scene, Phil tells Rita all the things he wants to tell her but cant, while she is asleep. He tells her how much he loves her, how perfect and lovely she is, how he doesn’t deserve someone as nice and sweet as her. (Phil is finally starting to become a loving and compassionate person, and the audience sees Phil’s character change drastically in the next scenes, as he becomes a much more outgoing and sweeter man. Phil is learning from his mistakes.)

(Show scene: Ch. 20, 1 hr. 12 mins.)

Plot: Phil wakes up the next morning without Rita.

But he starts with a whole new plan. He sees the homeless man on the street and gives him money, he brings Rita and Larry coffee and donuts before the report. (Day 31)

Phil gets the idea to learn how to play piano, each day going for another lesson and getting better and better.

Phil greets everyone with a smiling face and warm greetings, also creates ice-sculptures.(Day 32-33)

Plot: Phil is met by Ned again on his way to Gobbler’s

Knob, this time Phil takes a different approach and hugs Ned too long, telling him that he misses him, which creeps Ned out, making him run away. (Day 34)

Phil takes the old homeless man to the hospital where the man dies, Phil then decides to try to save the homeless man every day, but every time it is unsuccessful. Phil has to confront the reality, that he is indeed, not God, and there are some things that he cannot change. (Days 35-36)

(Show scene: Ch. 23)

Plot: Phil soon becomes a “Superman” and

goes around the town of Punxsutawney helping people (catches a boy after he falls from a tree, fixes a flat tire for old ladies in a car, saves Buster, the Groundhog Official from choking) (Day 37)

Phil attends a party where he plays the keyboards in a band (over time, he has become very talented), impressing Rita, and they dance while the people he helped earlier that day come and thank him.

Plot: After they dance, Phil is pushed to

stage, while women in the audience bid on him for charity. Rita wins the charity after bidding $339.88. They leave the party, and Phil takes Rita outside in the snow and makes her a snow sculpture of her face. She is amazed, and starts to fall for Phil. Phil tells Rita he loves her, and this time she knows he means it. They leave and go back to Phil’s room.

Plot: Phil wakes up again, but this time, it’s

not Groundhog Day, but finally February 3. Next to him, is Rita, he is very happy! They kiss, and leave the bed-and-breakfast and kiss some more, Phil decides that they will live in Punxsutawney. Phil has learned how to love, and has learned from his mistakes.

Range, Depth, Point of View: Depth: The audience does not see into Phil Connors’

[the protagonist] mind. We see what happens throughout the film from a third-person point of view, never entering Phil’s mind, or knowing his thoughts [no flashbacks, or narrator]

Range: For the most part, in the film, we, the audience, does not know more than the central character, Phil, does. A few scenes depict Rita and Larry’s thoughts of Phil.

We are in a third person point of view, always following Phil and his actions, reactions, etc. This is done so the audience focuses on the Change of Phil in the movie rather than the opinions of other characters.

Theme: The theme of Groundhog Day, is a Moral

or Philosophical Riddle. The film deals is about existentialism,

issues that deal with human existence. How can man make life worth living, what is man’s purpose?

Another theme, is the Weight of Time, we see the effect that time has on main character, Phil.

Motif: The alarm clock is a huge device used to

create symbolism in Groundhog Day, and is constantly shown throughout the film every morning Phil wakes up. The clock symbolizes the “weight of time” on Phil, and how time begins to have a negative, then positive effect on him.

Important Dialogue: In the scene at the bowling alley, Phil is

with two drunk men, talking about his tragedy. One of the men makes a perfect observation on Phil and Phil’s attitude at the beginning of the movie:

“You know, some guys would look at this glass, and they would say ‘that glass is half empty’. Other guys would say ‘that glass is half full’. I bet you is a glass is half empty kind of guy, am I right?”

Motivation: The director’s motivation, is to entertain

the audience, but also teach the audience morals, obvious in Groundhog Day. We learn that life is not worth living, if we do not learn how to be thankful for each day, and have a positive out-look on future. We have to see ‘us’ in the character Phil. We must seek love, be compassionate, and re-examine ourselves, as Phil does in the film.

Motivation: Phil greatest motivation through out the

movie, is to find a way to escape the time-loop, figure out what reason he is stuck in G-Day, but later in the film Phil has an epiphany, and realizes his true conquest, is to earn the admiration of his producer, Rita. He is motivated, day after to day to seduce Rita, learning new things about her and himself every new G-Day he experiences.