“Groundhog Day” Story Analysis

Director: Harold Ramis

Writers: Danny Rubin, Harold Ramis

Cast: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliot, Stephen Tobolowsky, Brian Doyle-Murray, Marita Geraghty

Synopsis: A weatherman finds himself trapped living the same day, Groundhog Day, over and over again while being repeatedly rebuffed by the woman he loves.

Story Analysis Description

*Analysis based off work of Robert McKee, Joseph Campbell and Syd Field

CHARACTERS

Phil Connors

Desire	Conscious:	Make the best of situation
	Unconscious:	Find happiness
Conflict Levels	Inner:	Egocentrism
	Personal:	Rita, Larry, Ned
	Extra-Personal:	Repeating day
Character	Characterization:	Self-centered jerk
	True Character:	Lonely man
	Turn:	Dedicated friend and lover

Rita

Desire	Conscious:	Make the most of life
	Unconscious:	–
Conflict Levels	Inner:	–
	Personal:	Phil
	Extra-Personal:	–
Character	Characterization:	Beautiful soul
	True Character:	–
	Turn:	–

Larry

Desire	Conscious:	Do job
	Unconscious:	–
Conflict Levels	Inner:	–
	Personal:	Phil
	Extra-Personal:	–
Character	Characterization:	Grunt worker
	True Character:	–
	Turn:	–

Ned

Desire	Conscious:	Connect with Phil
	Unconscious:	–
Conflict Levels	Inner:	–
	Personal:	Phil
	Extra-Personal:	–
Character	Characterization:	Annoying insurance
	True Character:	–
	Turn:	–

Principle of Antagonism

Positive	Happiness	Pessimistic	Half full life
Negative	Depression	Negation of Negation	False happiness

Controlling Idea

You find happiness when you choose to let go of your selfishness.

PLOT

Inciting Incident	Phil wakes up, and it’s the same day as yesterday.
Act One Climax	Phil realizes he can do whatever he wants.
GAP	Phil’s hijinks can’t bring him happiness.
Progressive Complications	Phil tries to seduce Rita, but she rebuffs his advances.
Midpoint	Phil tries to kill himself, but is trapped in his reality.
Act Two Climax	Rita helps Phil see the way to happiness is helping others.
Act Three Climax	Phil wins Rita.
Resolution	Phil escapes February 2nd.

SEQUENCE LIST

SEQUENCE ONE – Status Quo & Inciting Incident	Phil’s arrogance leaves him lonely as he works as a weatherman at the Groundhog Day festival. One morning, he wakes up to discover that he’s reliving the same day.
SEQUENCE TWO – Predicament & Lock In	Phil tries to escape his purgatory until he realizes that he can take advantage of the situation.
SEQUENCE THREE – First Obstacle & Raising the Stakes	Phil finds himself devoid of happiness and bets on his ability to win Rita, the woman of this dreams. If he doesn’t win her, he doesn’t know what he’ll do.
SEQUENCE FOUR – First Culmination/Midpoint	Phil doesn’t win Rita and tries to kill himself; he can’t and must find another way to live.
SEQUENCE FIVE – Subplot & Rising Action	Phil connects with Rita and learns how she finds happiness.
SEQUENCE SIX – Main Culmination/End of Act Two	Phil decides to help the community.
SEQUENCE SEVEN – New Tension & Twist	Phil can’t save the old man, showing him the limits of what he can accomplish.
SEQUENCE EIGHT – Resolution	Rita “buys” Phil and proves that he has changed.

HERO’S JOURNEY

ORDINARY WORLD	Phil believes the world revolves around him.
CALL TO ADVENTURE	Phil wakes up on the same day.
REFUSAL OF THE CALL	Phil tries to get through the day normally.
CROSSING FIRST THRESHOLD	Phil gets arrested, but wakes up back in bed.
TESTS, ALLIES, ENEMIES	Phil learns how best to manipulate the world to his own advantage; falls in love with Rita.
APPROACH TO INMOST CAVE	Phil tries to get Rita to fall for him, but is rebuffed.
ORDEAL	Rita slaps Phil repeatedly; he unsuccessfully tries to kill himself.
MEETING THE MENTOR	Rita teaches Phil the value of good living.
REWARD	Phil learns that the key to happiness is helping others.
ROAD BACK	Phil attempts to rewrite his day’s history.
RESURRECTION	Phil earns the respect of the town.
RETURN WITH ELIXIR	Phil wins Rita’s heart.

ARCHETYPES

HERO	Phil
SHADOW	–
MENTOR	Rita
ALLY	Larry, Ned, Rita
HERALD	–
THRESHOLD GUARDIAN	Ned, Larry, Rita, Old Man
TRICKSTER	Larry
SHAPESHIFTER	Phil

SCENE BREAKDOWN

Scene #1	Weather Map
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Finish weather report
Antagonist	Ego
TP	Phil meets Rita
Value	Love
Role	Introduction, Phil and Rita Inciting Incident

The film starts with images of clouds: floating, content, uncontrollable, symbolizing what Phil will have to accept about life over the course of the film. Making Phil a weatherman is an interesting choice; weather is unpredictable, unable to be forecast with true accuracy, much like the world. For Phil Connors, his inability to control the weather, symbolized by his own wrong forecast that leaves him stuck in Punxsutawney, is representative of life. All his attempts to change his destiny, like predicting the weather, are doomed to failure; he has to learn to accept the world as it is. The score is distinctly Nino Rota-esque according to Ramis, a man whose music in Fellini films often illustrates the uncertain and whimsical. This introductory scene introduces the audience to Phil; he’s crass, egotistical and dismissive of others. Much how Ebenezer Scrooge belittles Bob Crachit, Phil besmirching Larry and Rita reveals his flaws. We also notice the particular moment when Phil sees Rita, a break from his character for just a fraction of a moment, the Inciting Incident of their relationship; this will be revisited at their Act Three Climax.

Scene #2	Car Ride to Punxsutawney
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Get through drive
Antagonist	Rita and Larry
TP	Phil demeans Rita
Value	Gratitude
Role	Punxsutawney Inciting Incident

In the 1880s, some friends in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania went into the woods on Candlemas Day to look for groundhogs. This outing became a tradition and a local newspaper editor nicknamed the seekers “the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.” The search became an official event centered on a groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil. With a backstory like that, is it any wonder a man like Phil Connors loathes it?

He hates the event, the people, everything about it. Even Rita trying to lighten the mood, her natural reaction to Phil, can’t sway him towards any sense of fun. As only Bill Murray can do, Phil is abrasive but not repugnant, able to entertain and yet be dismissive. This scene also introduces the viewer to Punxsutawney and its suburban architecture, eccentric characters and quaint sensibilities, everything that Phil hates. This is Punxsutawney’s Inciting Incident, setting the stage for Phil to need to value gratitude. The song in the background was written by Ramis and George Fenton.

Scene #3	Phil Gets Different Hotel
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Survive nightmare assignment
Antagonist	Punxsutawney
TP	Rita earns Phil’s appreciation
Value	Love
Role	Phil and Rita Test, Allies and Enemies

Rita anticipates Phil’s upcoming temper tantrum and books him at B&B instead of the hotel they are staying at. This demonstrates that Rita understands Phil even though they’ve just met, showing how she views him in a certain light; as a selfish child, not a potential mate. For Ramis, he hired Andie MacDowell after watching her performance in Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s The Object of Beauty. Ramis instructed her to keep her South Carolina accent to be as natural as possible, citing her “emotional honesty.”

Scene #4	First Morning
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Get to the festival
Antagonist	Himself
TP	Phil promises to be out of town tonight
Value	Gratitude
Role	Phil and Man in Hallway Inciting Incident

Our first morning! We get introduced to several recurrent moments that will reappear throughout the story: the flipping of the clock, the radio broadcasters, the walkers to Gobbler’s Knob, the man walking up the stairs, the old house matron. The song that greets Bill Murray every morning, I’ve Got You Babe by Sonny & Cher, was in Danny Rubin’s original script from the beginning. The seemingly endless repetitive chorus mirrors Phil’s future predicament. While we don’t realize it at the time, the film is setting up multiple tests of Phil’s character; each and every one of these encounters gives Phil a chance at human connection that he brushes aside.

Scene #5	Ned
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Escape Ned
Antagonist	Ned
TP	Phil brushes Ned off
Value	Gratitude
Role	Phil and Ned Inciting Incident, Phil and Old Man Inciting Incident

The viewer is introduced to the homeless man, whose story will become more important later on, and Ned. Actor Stephen Tobolowsky was cast on the spot after his audition and it’s easy to see why. Ned is just about the most annoying person on the planet. We get to see a little of Phil’s past through Ned, learning how he grew disillusioned in youth and arrived at the curmudgeon he is today. The pair are a study in contrasts: Phil is in a dark suit with no hat, Ned in a light suit with a hat. But they both have on similar blue ties, tying them together somewhat, a fact that will become clear to Phil at the film’s conclusion; he is not more special than anyone else. If Phil can accept Ned into his heart, he can accept anyone.

Scene #6	Punxsutawney Phil
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Get through broadcast
Antagonist	Punxsutawney
TP	Phil brushes off festival
Value	Gratitude
Role	Punxsutawney Refusal

We see more of the town and its character: freezing people dancing in the park, lots of chit chat, the “Pennsylvania Polka”, a man holding a blizzard sign upside-down. Rita is all for it, enjoying life, while Phil continues to reject it. He diminishes the town and its quirks, his condemnation reflecting a lacking in his soul; he is as miserable as he makes everyone around him. The fact that Groundhog Phil sees his shadow only pushes Phil more; this is ridiculous superstition, people equating what he does with that of a Groundhog’s skills. He refuses to see the power of the world around him.

Scene #7	Blizzard
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Get out of Punxsutawney
Antagonist	Traffic cop
TP	Phil chooses to go back to town
Value	Gratitude
Role	Punxsutawney Act One Climax

Phil was wrong about the forecast as the blizzard hits, stranding him in Punxsutawney. He has no more control over the world than anyone in Punxsutawney does. This is Punxsutawney’s Act One Climax as Phil and the town are now tied together; Phil must learn to connect to Punxsutawney.

Scene #8	Phil Gets Drunk
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Avoid connection
Antagonist	Rita and Larry
TP	Phil refuses to go to the party
Value	Gratitude
Role	Refusal

Phil chooses to get drunk instead of hanging out with Rita and Larry. His last chance at connection before his journey begins, he chooses exile rather than love, a mistake that he will have to rectify before the story’s end.

Scene #9	The Second Morning
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Figure out what’s going on
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil determines to just get through the day
Value	Sanity
Role	Inciting Incident

When Phil wakes up the next morning… it’s still February 2nd. Going through the same moments, Phil tries to make sense of everything; ultimately, he just decides to continue on and hope for the best. It’s also the first déjà vu joke when he asks the B&B owner if she ever has it, to which she responds, “I don’t think so, but I can check with the kitchen.” The concept of déjà vu is paramount to the story.

Scene #10	Meets Ned Again
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Figure out what’s going on
Antagonist	Ned
TP	Phil leaves
Value	Sanity
Role	Phil and Ned Act One

Phil thinks everything is weird as he meets Ned again. He replays their meeting yesterday in his head, going through the motions, trying to make sense of his predicament. He is still not desperate enough to actually connect with Ned.

Scene #11	“It’s Groundhog Day… Again”
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Make sense of situation
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil tosses his mic and gives up
Value	Sanity
Role	Punxsutawney Tests, Allies, Enemies

Phil looks at everything strangely and asks Rita to slap him in the face. Unable to come to grips with the situation, he just gives up. It’s worth noting the attention to detail that 1st AD Mike Haley put into making sure that every scene is replicated exactly the same (from people, to props, to cars) day after day.

Scene #12	Phil’s Experiment
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Learn what is going on
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil finds an intact pencil
Value	Sanity
Role	Phil and Man on Stairs Act One Climax

Initially, Murray was filmed trashing his room only to discover it completely restored the next morning, but it was rightfully deemed too much. Instead, Phil simply breaks a pencil and awakens to find it still in one piece. This pushes him over the edge as he realizes he is stuck living the same day over and over again. He attacks the man on the stairs, culminating in their Act One Climax. He chooses Rita to confide in, symbolizing his latent trust in her, retreating to a diner.

Scene #13	Diner
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Get Rita’s help
Antagonist	Rita
TP	Phil gets no help
Value	Love
Role	Phil and Rita Tests, Allies, Enemies

Bill tells Rita he’s reliving the same day and asks for her help; of course, there’s nothing she can do. A local laughs at Phil having the same name as the Groundhog, further pointing to the connection between a weatherman who knows nothing and a vermin that also knows nothing. There’s an array of clocks hanging over Phil, all of their time stopped, mirroring Phil Connors’s predicament.

Scene #14	Doctor and Psych
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Figure out what’s wrong with him
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil gives up
Value	Sanity
Role	GAP

Phil searches for help: doctors, psychiatrists. He gets nowhere. This represents a GAP in the plot as there appears to be no means of escaping his curse, pushing his situation from bad to worse. Whatever is happening to him has no rational explanation, leaving him trapped, able to only search for a living through his predicament.

Scene #15	The Bowling Alley
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Find a way to live through situation
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil realizes he can do whatever he wants
Value	Joy
Role	Act One Climax

Phil pontificates about things philosophically in a bowling alley, wondering if anything matters. His two drunken mates concur that they live ultimately meaningless lives, stipulating a theme that will reverberate through the narrative; life is only as valuable as the comfort you take from it and the joy you put into it. Once Phil realizes that he no longer suffers consequences, he takes the wrong course of action and chooses to seek surface level pleasure instead of finding meaningful connection. This is his Act One Climax as he commits himself to finding happiness in this life.

Scene #16	Phil Wakes Up with Vigor
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Make the most of gift
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil avoids stepping in pothole
Value	Joy
Role	Phil and Ned Act 2 Climax

Phil chooses to use his gift as a means to extract cheap thrills. He punches Ned, content to use whatever means he can to fulfill his ego. Avoiding stepping in the pothole full of water, it proves that he is mastering this world, though what he chooses to do with it is ultimately empty. There is now a plaque over that step in the town commemorating the moment. Phil’s playful manner seems honest, a testament to Murray’s acting given that he will turn dramatic later on. Ramis said that, “Even when Bill’s doing scripted material, he’ll always add something that’s so surprising or unexpected. Part of our whole report together was him making me laugh and me thinking of bizarre ideas that he could actually wrap his warped brain around.”

Scene #17	Stuffing Himself at the Diner
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Indulge
Antagonist	Rita
TP	Phil chooses to stay in town
Value	Joy
Role	Punxsutawney Midpoint

Phil claims he doesn’t worry about anything anymore as he stuffs his face at the diner. Rita, serving as his conscience, tries to gauge his morality, but it leads to no avail. This is also the film’s first introduction to poetry, Rita reciting a Sir Walter Scott poem to illustrate Phil’s depravity, but Phil brushes her off; he doesn’t understand it or what it means, representing his inability to see life as anything other than a means of surface level joy, shutting off critical thinking. In a first, he states that he’s going to stay in town, showing his warming attitude to the people of Punxsutawney.

Scene #18	Nancy Taylor
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Get with Nancy
Antagonist	Nancy
TP	Phil gets Nancy to go out with him
Value	Love
Role	Phil and Rita Progressive Complication

Phil uses his gift not for a righteous purpose, but to attract a woman. Little does he know though that his desire for Rita is percolating under the surface, latently waiting to trap him.

Scene #19	Profits
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Feel powerful
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil becomes Bronco
Value	Joy
Role	Threshold Guardian

Phil uses his gift to steal money and sleep with women. He reaches the apex of what he thinks he is capable of with his powers, envisioning himself as Bronco, lord of his destiny. “Why does he dress like Clint Eastwood? Because he can,” said Ramis. But still, he feels empty inside, unable to see the path to true happiness.

Scene #20	Phil Pursues Rita
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Get Rita
Antagonist	Rita
TP	Phil keeps Rita from leaving
Value	Love
Role	Phil and Rita Act One Climax

After who knows how long a time of not finding happiness, Phil sets his sights on Rita. He gets her to agree to go for coffee and a donut with him and learns about her ideal man. To get her to stay in town, he disables the van and works to make himself her catch. Rita’s agreement to go with Phil represents the Act One Climax of their storyline.

Scene #21	Phil Buys Rita a Drink
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Win Rita
Antagonist	Rita
TP	Phil earns Rita’s admiration falsely
Value	Love
Role	Phil and Rita Tests, Allies, Enemies

Phil keeps altering his natural tendencies to win Rita over, changing his drink order and memorizing her toast. He’s working against his own personality, presenting a false front and not staying true to himself. Rita will see through his facade, Phil unable to truly evolve unless he changes himself. At the moment, his guise wins her over.

Scene #22	Dinner
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Win Rita
Antagonist	Rita
TP	Phil speaks French
Value	Love
Role	Phil and Rita Tests, Allies, Enemies

Phil learns Rita studied French poetry in college and brushes her off. Then he learns French, not because he wants to, but to win her. Another reference to poetry, her major, highlights her depth and his shallowness and a recurrence of a theme. Phil can speak poetry, but he still doesn’t understand it. The poem he recites is actually a song by Jacques Brel that roughly translates to, “The girl that I will love / Will be like a fine wine / that will become better / a bit every morning.”

Scene #23	Build a Snowman
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Win Rita
Antagonist	Rita
TP	Phil and Rita have a moment
Value	Love
Role	Phil and Rita Midpoint

While building a snowman, Phil and Rita share a moment, a connection made between them based on lies. Phil won’t understand his error until his Ordeal. The song that plays during the Phil and Rita dancing is You Don’t Know Me by Ray Charles. The song is about a one-sided love, much like Phil’s love for Rita.

Scene #24	Rita Puts Phil in his Place
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Win Rita
Antagonist	Rita
TP	Rita slaps Phil
Value	Love
Role	Phil and Rita Act Two Climax

As Rita realizes Phil’s deception, she slaps him in the face and states that, “I could never love anyone like you, Phil, because the only thing you’ll love is yourself.” This encompasses Phil’s conundrum; the only way he’ll learn love is to lose his love of self, to give himself up to the world, without ego. And before he does that, he will resort to every other means imaginable.

Scene #25	Phil’s Rejected
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Win Rita
Antagonist	Rita
TP	Phil gives up trying to win Rita
Value	Love
Role	Phil and Rita GAP

Phil keeps trying to win Rita after his first major setback. He gets more and more desperate, trying to recreate exact moments, trying to finish the job and win her love. Each time, he fails. This is a GAP in their relationship, Phil repeatedly pushed back. He’s lost, his quest for happiness in the form of Rita hitting a seemingly permanent rut. As he walks away from the last slap, he stares at several ice sculptures; he is like them, trapped in time, frozen in an existence of stasis. His refusal to evolve has doomed him to unhappiness.

Scene #26	Despair
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Overcome despair
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil gives up
Value	Joy
Role	Punxsutawney Act Two Climax

The weight of it all falls on Phil. He can’t bear to face Rita again and again and realize he’ll never win her love. His gift becomes his torture. He finds no joy in his abilities anymore, seeking solace in Jeopardy and drinking.

Scene #27	Hopeless
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Come up with plan out of situation
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil decides to steal the groundhog
Value	Joy
Role	Approach to Inmost Cave

“It’s going to be cold, it’s going to be gray, and it’s going to last you the rest of your life.” Phil enters extreme hopelessness. He smashes his alarm clock. Seemingly out of any options, he makes a final decision; He chooses to take out the groundhog, the creature equated to him because of their names, who knows as much about weather as he does, reflecting his own self-loathing. By taking out both Phils, all the madness will end. It’s just another way of showing that humanity will choose demise over change nearly all of the time.

Scene #28	Phil Steals Phil
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Die
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil drives off a cliff
Value	Joy
Role	Ordeal

A ridiculous chase involves a groundhog driving a truck, police with guns drawn and an explosion. The red truck that the Phils drive symbolizes rage, the bright color distinct against the drab environment. For Phil, he has given up and chooses death.

As a side note, Murray was bite twice by the Groundhog and had to receive rabies shots after shooting the scene.

Scene #29	Phil Keeps Trying
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Die
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil doesn’t die
Value	Joy
Role	Midpoint

Phil awakens the next day, just as before. He is truly trapped. He decides to try to kill himself again; maybe a different way will yield better results. It doesn’t. He tries again and again. The religious allegory of him throwing himself off the balcony of a church is lost on no one; Phil is searching for salvation.

Scene #30	Back at the Diner
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Get Rita to understand
Antagonist	Rita
TP	Rita believes Phil
Value	Joy
Role	Threshold Guardian

Phil believes himself to be a god. I mean, why wouldn’t you at this point? He knows everybody, everything that’s about to happen, every detail about Rita, her life and her dreams. Now reincarnated, he wears a white shirt, symbolizing his ethereal transcendence. He finally confesses himself honestly to Rita, the first honest conversation he’s had with her in the entire film. Unbeknownst to him, this is his first acknowledgement about the change he needs to make: to reveal his soul to others and change his life’s path.

Scene #31	Card Tossing
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Find joy
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Rita decides to stay
Value	Joy
Role	Phil and Rita Act Three Climax

Rita, serving as Phil’s mentor, advises him to live in the moment, to look at his situation not as a curse, but as a gift. She helps him see that life is about bettering yourself, finding joy in others and never giving up, looking on the bright side of things. This is neatly symbolized by their conversation taking place as they toss cards into a hat; the twirling cards represent Phil’s actions flowing into the air, hopefully landing where he needs them to, his destiny out of his hands and up to the universe. They are also symbolic to Tarot cards pointing towards his destiny.

Phil could have used this night as another scheme to try and bed Rita, but instead he simply gets to know her, honestly and without reservations or machinations. When midnight passes, Rita chooses to stay, her first step towards accepting Phil as a good man; Phil’s reaction to that kind of response, after revealing himself to her, shows that this type of connection with others can indeed bring joy. It’s perhaps the first real time he’s felt real joy in his entire life. This represents Phil and Rita’s Act Three Climax, their relationship turning from attraction to anger and now to wanting.

Scene #32	Poetry at Night
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Find purpose
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil chooses to do the best he can
Value	Love
Role	Act Two Climax

Phil appreciates Rita for who she is; he realizes what made her so attractive to him in the first place, the beauty of her soul and ability to find joy in life. “What I wanted to say was I think you’re the kindest, sweetest, prettiest person I’ve ever met in my entire life. I’ve never seen anyone that’s nicer to people than you are. And the first time I saw you, something happened to me. I never told you, but I knew that I wanted to hold you as hard as I could. I don’t deserve someone like you. But if I ever could, I swear I would love you for the rest of my life,” he says. Phil acknowledges that for him to find joy, he must change. He may not win Rita’s heart; he knows he doesn’t deserve it, but he must change. Poetry again plays an important role as they read a poem by Joyce Kilmer, a man who found salvation in Catholicism after the death of his daughter to polio and before his own death in the trenches of World War I. “Only God can make a tree,” is a way to illustrate the limits of mankind; Phil can not bend the world to his whim, but must accept it as is. He chooses to live in the moment, not to win over Rita, but to find joy within himself. Interestingly, the scene was conceived by Murray who read poetry to his then-wife on their honeymoon night while she fell to sleep.

Scene #33	Good Samaritan
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Help others
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil recites poetry to man on stairs
Value	Joy
Role	Phil and Man on Stairs Act Two Climax, Phil and Old Man Act One Climax

Phil turns over a new leaf as he tries to utilize kindness in his life. He gives the old man money, connects with Larry and makes nice with the man on stairs by reciting poetry. In order to better himself, he reads “Treasury of the Theatre: From Agamemnon to A Month in the Country” by John Gassner and “Johann Strauss: Father and Son, a Century of Light Music” by H.E. Jacoband and learns how to play the piano; he even learns how to ice sculpt. (The ice sculptures featured in the movie were carved by Randy Rupert, a.k.a. The Chainsaw Wizard. Randy is actually a Punxsutawney resident. He can be found in the city park every Groundhog Day carving and selling wooden sculptures.) The more Phil works to better himself, the more joy he finds in it.

Scene #34	Can’t Save Old Man
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Save Old Man
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil realizes he can’t save Old Man
Value	Joy
Role	Phil and Old Man Act Two Climax, Twist

Phil realizes the limits of his powers even as he uses his gift for good; death is inevitable and despite how he views himself with godlike powers, he can not save this old man. This is an important lesson for Phil to understand; his power for good only takes him so far, he must roll within life’s limits. As Ramis explained, “Without making some ultimate statement about death, it would really make the movie kind of toothless. We thought it was very important that Phil confront the reality that he’s not God, his grandiosity is just a sham and you can only do so much in life. By losing the old man, you realize that he is powerless in a way. It forces him to do as much as he can physically.”

Scene #35	Master of Destiny
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Help his community
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil saves people
Value	Joy
Role	Punxsutawney Act Three Climax

Phil recites a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge during the morning’s weather broadcast, symbolizing his understanding of what it means, the words as powerful to him as to Rita. He helps old ladies with a car jack, catches a kid falling out of a tree and saves Buster from choking. He is master of the day, finally conquering what he can and cannot control, using his gift to better the community in every way he can. In so doing, he reaches the Punxsutawney Act 3 Climax, becoming one with the universe of the town, each respecting the other.

Scene #36	Party
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Enjoy happiness
Antagonist	Rita
TP	Rita buys Phil
Value	Love
Role	Phil and Rita Act Four Climax

Larry shows up as his own kind of antagonist, perhaps needing his own neverending day to earn Nancy’s respect. For Phil, his journey has led him here, the talk of the town, a master piano player, dancer and jack of all trades. Originally written as taking place at Fred and Debbie’s wedding, the scene was smartly shifted to a Groundhog Day party to keep the focus on Phil and the town. Rita is impressed, but Phil doesn’t push the issue. Instead, she seeks him out, symbolizing that he has finally become the man of her dreams, not as a con, but in reality. She buys him in an auction, her not becoming his prize, but he becoming hers.

Scene #37	Phil and Ned
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	End fight with Ned
Antagonist	Ned
TP	Phil buys insurance from Ned
Value	Joy
Role	Phil and Ned Act Three Climax

Ned’s storyline is resolved as Phil buys insurance from him and views him as a friend.

Scene #38	Phil Carves Rita
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Earn Rita’s respect
Antagonist	Rita
TP	Rita kisses Phil
Value	Love
Role	Act Three Climax

Phil carves Rita out of ice, showing his dedication to her and respect for life’s predicaments, embracing the ice sculptures that haunted him earlier, mastering the stillness that has overtaken his life. “No matter what happens tomorrow or for the rest of my life, I’m happy now because I love you,” Phil states. Rita reciprocates his love, which is a little weird considering she still just technically met him, but perhaps that sense of déjà vu may indeed be playing a factor, Phil’s reality not totally lost to time, but embraced in it. She kisses him, Phil earning her love and respect for his ability to change into a better man. The falling snow symbolizes the unpredictable machinations of the universe, lifting him free from the repetition of time. It is a baptism of sorts, Phil and the weather finally connected.

Scene #39	February 3
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Discover if it’s really February 3
Antagonist	Situation
TP	Phil realizes that it’s tomorrow
Value	Love
Role	Reward

It seems like a regular morning, the camera panning over as the alarm goes off, I’ve Got You, Babe plays on the radio… and then the commentary is slightly different. Rita’s arm appears and turns off the radio. Phil can’t believe it at first. When he realizes that it is indeed the next day, joy overtakes him and he kisses Rita. For whatever reason caused and ended it, whatever power existing that controlled his situation, Phil is freed. Phil can finally move forward with the ability to feel joy and love in life.

This final scene was shot over 25 takes, the most difficult take of the shoot. For Ramis, he was unsure of several dynamics: Should they be dressed or undressed? Should Phil be relieved, elated or thankful? In the end, the cast and crew voted and determined that Phil and Rita should remain dressed to imply that they did not have sex.

Scene #40	Walk in the Snow
Protagonist	Phil
Desire	Enjoy life
Antagonist	–
TP	–
Value	Love, Joy
Role	Conclusion

Phil and Rita partake in the beauty of the winter wonderland, embracing the snow as a metaphor to life and the future. They embrace as Phil states that he wants to live in Punxsutawney with her. The snow turns to clouds, again transitioning to weather as the great unknown power of the universe.

OVERALL

Groundhog Day is very much a modern American retelling of A Christmas Carol, with the repetition of time standing in for the three spirits that change a miserly man into a caring individual. Rather than be confronted with his life’s journey through past, present and future, Phil must deal with a constant present.

Original writer Danny Rubin said his inspiration sprang from Christmas Every Day (1892) by William Dean Howells. “There are a lot of existential issues dealing with human existence which are common to everybody that are largely untapped in cinema. It’s just a whole area of thinking about the world that lot of people don’t do,” he said. The original script started in the middle of the narrative, with Phil firmly ensconced in the situation and knowing everyone. While that didn’t make it into the final film, Ramis was fascinated by Rubin’s premise and the underlying dynamics of the script. He initially didn’t read it, but was egged on by producing partner Trevor Albert. From there, Ramis rewrote it and then coordinated with Rubin to make a final script. “Danny Rubin actually took Elisabeth Kübler-Ross as a model – her five stages of death and dying,” Ramis said. “And we used that as a template for Bill Murray’s progress.” Originally trapping Phil for 10,000 years, Ramis suggests it was a much more “reasonable” 30-40 years of his living the same day repeatedly. “You are experiencing the same thing as the character is,” said Rubin. “And you are going through the catharsis of realizing that your life is pointless and that emptying out completely and then rebuilding again and seeing that life has a point.”

For Rubin, as successful as the movie became, his relationship to it has grown complicated.

“It’s a great movie, and it has made my life a lot easier in many ways,” he said. “However, I quickly learned that working as a writer in Hollywood, you have to compromise in order for your work to be produced. The fact that Harold Ramis had interest and took the time to edit and polish the script so it got made, plus help with finding funding, as well as directing the movie, I’m very grateful for all of that. At the same time, when I watch the movie, I see more comedy than what I intended, more of a romantic story than was ever in my script, many of the darker elements toned down. Something feels off when you watch something you created and there are things you don’t remember in your vision and now they are there. Again, I don’t want to come off ungrateful. I understand the odds of getting a movie made from a spec script are similar to winning the jackpot in the lottery. Thanks to Harold Ramis taking an interest in the script, I now live a comfortable life where money is never a worry. The movie just didn’t turn out fully how I envisioned, and that’s something I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life.”

It’s a shame that Groundhog Day that marked the final collaboration between Bill Murray and Harold Ramis. Ramis originally wanted Tom Hanks for the lead role, but decided against it, saying that Hanks was “too nice.” After seeing the film, Hanks agreed that Murray was a better choice, explaining that, “The audience knows me as a good guy. They’re just waiting for me to become the good guy. You never know what Bill’s going to be.” In Murray, Ramis found a vessel that was both smug and compassionate, Murray’s innate ability to be simultaneously charming and infuriating giving Phil Connors a very humanist persona. Both Murray and Ramis have since both been honorary Grand Marshals for the Groundhog Day celebrations in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Phil in many ways represents the modern American, egotistical and opinionated. One could easily see him as the CEO of a major corporation or a cutthroat TV executive (like Murray’s role in Scrooged). This makes him eminently suited as a parable of American misdirection; we’ve lost our view of what is important through capitalism and need to regain a sense of spiritual joy.

There are six storylines in the film: the main storyline of Phil’s change, Phil’s love with Rita, his animosity towards Ned, his apathy towards the Old Homeless Man, his dismissal of the Man on the Stairs and his general relationship to the town. Each of these individual relationships helps Phil change over the course of the film and learn a valuable lesson about life: the Old Man teaches him about his limits, the Man on the Stairs about kindness to strangers, Ned about acceptance of the other and Rita about true love. Take one away and the film feels lesser for it.

The Phil and Punxsutawney storyline revolves around Phil finding true happiness. Phil is unhappy everywhere, but Punxsutawney is his ultimate hellhole: inane festivals, small town charm, wacky characters. Phil accepting Punxsutawney and its idiosyncrasies is representative of him accepting the strangeness of life; the town becomes his home, Phil finding a place where he belongs where he least expected it.

There are three values at play in the story: Joy, love and sanity. Sanity is relatively surface level as Phil learns he isn’t crazy and if he is, there’s nothing he can do about it. When Phil understands the power of his gift, he abuses it to his own devices. Only by accepting what he is and is not capable of, from saving a young boy falling out a tree to not being able to save the Old Man, does Phil understand the nature of joy and love. These values are closely intertwined throughout the narrative. What Phil ultimately desires is love; his rough exterior masks a distinct sense of loneliness. But to achieve love, he must accept joy into his heart. Only by finding true joy, by greeting strangers on the stairs or learning to play the piano, does he prove himself worthy of the love he seeks. “The key to Groundhog Day for any of us is having the insight and the courage and the energy to make those changes when you come to those moments,” Ramis said. “Where you could make the same mistake again, we face those choices every single day, the things we tell ourselves we’re going to do, the things we tell ourselves we shouldn’t do. If you could change one little thing, then everything might change.”

Phil and Rita’s storyline is an interesting twist in the traditional love plot. Rather than just guy falls for girl, guy loses girl, etc., the film pivots the Act Two Climax away from Phil’s pursuit of Rita and towards Phil actively not pursuing her in order to win her love. This is because Rita serves not only as Phil’s love interest, but also his mentor, ally and conscience. To follow Rita’s will as mentor and conscience, he must stop pursuing her as lover. She does not require a big dramatic heart-to-heart speech similar to romance movies like The Notebook or When Harry Met Sally; those male leads needed to recognize the love lacking in themselves, but did not suffer the burden of needing to change their souls for the other. Phil recognizes that he loves Rita early on, but must change himself to be worthy of her love. This makes her buying him at the film’s end so much more powerful; he has truly transformed enough for her to realize his growth.

The symbolism of weather is quietly woven throughout the narrative. Phil is a cocky weatherman. He even yells that, “I make the weather!” But weather, like life, is unpredictable. Phil can no more control the weather than a groundhog can predict it. When Phil attempts to leave Punxsutawney, a storm prevents him. The freezing chill traps him as he fights icy potholes and blistering cold. The weather is very much a part of his prison, trapping him as time does. Only when Phil accepts the joy of life does he appreciate the snow, mastering ice sculpture and letting the flakes christen his love with Rita as they kiss.

Latent in the narrative also is a sense of religious acceptance. Phil goes from superficial non-believer to accepting student. Though not explicit in its beliefs, the film strongly suggests a greater power in the universe, one unknown to humankind that we have to accept, warts and all. Indeed, Ramis and company received numerous letters from Buddhists, Christian fundamentalists, Hasidic Jews and others all claiming some sort of philosophical identification. It speaks to the human need to find release through belief. There’s a universal understanding that you can’t change the world, but you can change yourself, something central to most religious doctrines. As Ramis said, “The Torah doesn’t change. We change.” Phil has to learn to accept life as it is and change what he can. Rather than promote this theme through scripture, the film uses poetry. What starts out as mere words to Phil becomes a power of acceptance. By learning poetry and understanding its meaning, he’s able to create his own and therefore appreciate life’s circumstances.

In terms of mistakes, the absence of Phil’s backstory is an interesting decision that could have yielded greater benefits. Learning how Phil became a grouchy man could have enabled the filmmakers to build some setups and payoffs in the narrative that instill greater meaning. Also, the last line of the film, “Let’s live here. We’ll rent to start,” has never made sense to me. The ending would be stronger with no dialogue at all actually, just Phil and Rita out in the snow, taking in the atmosphere of a new day.

But really, that’s it. Groundhog Day is a near perfect movie that utilizes romantic-comedy tropes to weave a narrative of life acceptance and the possibility of change. “I think what Danny and I wanted to say with the movie was, ‘You can live better,'” said Ramis. “You can have a better life. You can change and when you do change you get those rewards that you think you want from life.”

It’s a masterclass of storytelling that sneaks up on the viewer and lingers long afterwards.