I’m so glad I was presented with an excuse to write more about this film! People have been talking about ‘Groundhog Day Loops” or using similar phrases for so much of my life that it’s easy to forget there was a time the “reliving the same day over and over” trope didn’t really exist. I just talked about one movie that utilized it; there have certainly been more and this wouldn’t have been the case if the original weren’t a bona fide classic.
When it first came out shortly after 1993’s actual Groundhog Day, the film drew strong reviews and grossed $70 million back at a time when that was enough to get it into the year’s top 10 films. Particularly impressive for something released at that point in the year! That said, it was only #10 and it was completely forgotten by the time awards season rolled around. However, although 1993 was the year Spielberg released two of his absolute biggest movies (Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List), Groundhog Day has become a MUCH bigger part of our culture than any film from that year besides those two!
I remember when I first watched it shortly after it came out on video. I was very disappointed. I was expecting the sort of hilarity Bill Murray had provided me in What About Bob? just two years earlier – frankly the sort of hilarity everyone had come to expect from him. Instead he showed the world for the first time what a gifted dramatic actor he is. As a small boy I didn’t appreciate it but I gave the movie another chance when it screened near me last month.
Wow. Now it’s one of my favorite films.
I’ll start off by saying that Phil’s story of redemption reminded me of how much I changed as a person after getting baptized as a Christian and I hope others feel the same way seeing me before and after. That said, all religions apparently feel this is an allegory for their faith and there is something to be said as far as Phil getting reincarnated until he achieves enlightenment. Yet even people who say they’re spiritual but not religious can relate, and there are those who just view it as an existential film.
The fact that there is no one correct interpretation is often the hallmark of a rich, complex story. It’s even completely ambiguous how long Phil is in the loop. Apparently the studio only wanted it to be two weeks, lest audiences feel too horrified. That’s not very compelling but director Harold Ramis left it totally open-ended so anyone could be happy. Apparently he didn’t even have a set timeframe in his own mind because when asked he gave answers ranging from 10-40 years. Meanwhile, in the original script it was supposedly 10,000 YEARS!
As intrigued as I am by the 10,000 years interpretation and think that’s a great idea for an unsettling low-budget indie movie (in fact, maybe my producer friend Saurabh and I should make it – this song can be on the soundtrack!) I can’t fathom Phil would still be able to mentally function properly at the film’s end if that were the case. Granted, you can’t prove that ISN’T the timeframe, but there’s also no evidence in the film that it is.
What does the evidence say? WhatCulture, a website I love, has the most thorough analysis you’ll find.
However long a span of time Frank feels psychologically, the whole point is that it’s only one day for him physically and for the world externally. What would you do if you had to relive the exact 24 hours over and over for nearly 34 years? (you’re welcome WhatCulture for the vote of confidence! 🙂 )
We would probably also do whatever hedonistic stuff we want and eventually feel empty when that wouldn’t feel satisfying anymore. We would probably also start to go crazy and try to end our lives, and then further lose our hold on sanity when that wouldn’t even work. We would probably also feel helpless and depressed when we started to think that there was absolutely no way out of our predicament.
What happens then though? What happens when there is seemingly no way to change the situation you’re in, because even death isn’t possible? You’re apparently going to be in the same situation for all of eternity, and for Phil living in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania probably counts as a fate worse than death.
At that point you really have no choice but to try and make the most of the situation. How though? Phil’s journey is one of the most satisfying and rewarding you will ever see.
Our movie about someone stuck in a “Groundhog Day Loop” for 10,000 years will be a chilling classic in its own right, won’t it Saurabh? It’s hard to top the trope namer though.
Final Verdict: Wow. Just wow.
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