Groundhog Day, written by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis, the latter is also the director of the film

Groundhog Day, written by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis, the latter is also the director of the film

A different version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:

-              https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E  and   http://realini.blogspot.ro/

Groundhog Day is one of the best five or ten comedies ever made.

And it is also a worthwhile film, with a positive psychology message and proposing a message of redemption and meaning of life.

It is included on a list of significant, mesmerizing films with powerful, transcendent, spiritual and philosophical themes:

-          Dead Poets Society, The Shawshank Redemption, Pay it Forward, Field of Dreams, Gandhi and others that you can find here:

-          http://charlusguermantes.blogspot.ro/

The fabulous bill Murray plays Phil, a weather man that experiences a déjà vu.

Again and again.

To begin with, he is obnoxious, arrogant, narcissistic, a little like the Donald, patronizing, selfish and uninterested in the job.

The team that includes Rita, portrayed by the sensual, aristocratic, charming, beautiful and charismatic Andie MacDowell is supposed to cover The Groundhog Day, when the “rat” as Phil calls it makes a weather forecast.

Phil is above all this.

And he is played perfectly by the titan Bill Murray.

A snow storm is preventing the television crew from getting out Punxsutawney and then everything seems to go terribly wrong for Phil.

The audience is having a fantastic joy ride, with a meaningful message to top the festival of hilarious lines.

I will quote some lines of extremely humorous dialogue, but I want to highlight the significance of the main theme:

-          Humans need to find meaning in their lives

-          It is not just about pleasures, having sex(albeit it this is fun and extremely important, rewarding and obviously necessary), eating a lot and indulging in passing hedonistic experiences

-          Phil finds meaning when he realizes that he is in love, when he starts committing acts of random kindness, finds there is a world outside himself, starts realizing the significance beyond his so far self-indulging ego

He has to live the same day, over and over and he first tries to sleep with all the attractive women available and after the initial, petty indulgences are over he becomes depressed and tries to commit suicide, without success, given that no matter what happens today, tomorrow keeps coming back from the same place and “time”.

Rita is the Savior, the ultimate escape, the angel that illuminates and transcends this narcissistic hero and he becomes a romantic figure to add to the list on which we have Romeo, Tristan and so many other supermen.

 Phil: I'm a god.

Rita: You're God?

Phil: I'm a god. I'm not *the* God... I don't think….

Phil: I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank piña coladas. At sunset, we made love like sea otters.

Phil: *That* was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get *that* day over, and over, and over...

Phil: Do you know what today is?

Rita: No, what?

Phil: Today is tomorrow. It happened…

Phil: When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter…

Rita: Do you every have déjà vu?

Phil: Didn't you just ask me that?

Ned: Phil?

Phil: Ned?

[Punches Ned in the face]

Phil: Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today…

Phil: Do you ever have déjà vu, Mrs. Lancaster?

Mrs. Lancaster: I don't think so, but I could check with the kitchen…

Phil: What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?

Ralph: That about sums it up for me.

So with all the hilarity and fun that the audience has watching this Divine Comedy, there are significant, thought provoking statements

We often go about the same routine, day after day, doing exactly the same thing, without enjoying, noticing or caring about it, when we should stop and find what matters, find our calling, and engage in worthwhile activities.