Groundhog Day rated PG for thematic elements

What with it being Groundhog Day it seemed appropriate to do a movie blog on the film of the same name.

Bill Murray plays a Pittsburgh weatherman named Phil.  He is sent to Punxsutawney to film a Groundhog Day segment.  He is accompanied by his optimistic kind-of-a-loser cameraman named Larry (played by Chris Elliott)  and a beautiful new producer named Rita (played by Andie MacDowell).

Phil is an unpleasant guy who is tired of what he considers the "mundane" aspects of his life including covering Groundhog Day.  He makes no bones about complaining a lot to Rita and Larry about how he feels.  While he complains he further annoys Rita by hitting on her at the same time.

On the way back to Pittsburgh the trio get stopped by an unexpected blizzard and are forced back to Punxsutawney.  So the three settle down for the night in their respective hotel/b and b rooms with the expectation of heading back to Pittsburgh on the following day.

When morning dawns, it is February second and Phil is surprised by the weird sense of deja vu that he gets as he gets ready for the day.  Everything seems to be happening exactly the same way as it did yesterday.  Phil naturally dismisses it as a dream and tries to think nothing of it.  When he wakes up the next day, it is still Feb second.

Phil fairly quickly realizes that for some reason he is trapped in Feb second in Punxsutawney.  At first Phil gives in to a "selfish phase" in which he tries to (and usually succeeds at) doing whatever he wants whether it involves hooking up with different girls, robbing a bank truck, getting arrested for drunk driving, etc.  Included in this "selfish phase" is Phil's efforts at winning Rita's heart by tricking her into thinking that he is the man of her dreams.

After Phil's efforts to win Rita fail, he slides into a depression/destructive phase in which he desperately tries to kill himself in various ways.  He succeeds but still manages to wake up on February Second every morning.

Finally Phil gives in to resignation/acceptance.  For some unknown reason he is trapped and there seems to be nothing that he can do to break free of the cycle.  Or is there?

I vaguely remember being aware of this movie as a kid but I don't recall watching it all the way through until I was an adult.  I sort of would catch bits and pieces over the years but I was always catching the middle of the movie to where I didn't understand what was going on exactly.  On paper the plot is simple, "a guy relives Groundhog Day over and over" but after watching the film there's quite a bit more going on as "a guy relives Groundhog Day over and over".  The story is very good.  The acting is great.  I love the use of music in this picture.

I leave with some food for thought.  Me and my friends have pondered just how many Groundhog Days Phil experiences through the course of the movie.  Only recently have I become aware that Phil actually mentions spending "four to six hours a day for six months" to perfect throwing playing cards into a hat.  Now he could be just talking and not meaning that he literally spent six months on February Second but I think that he was saying that he spent six months honing that "skill" if you will.  I also think that he must have spent years on Groundhog Day if you consider that he first learns about the people and their habits then proceeds to learn the piano, learns to fluently speak Italian and probably French, learns poetry well enough to recite it on cue, and learns not only how to ice sculpt but perfect it as well.