Release Year: 1993

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Director: Harold Ramis

Writers: Danny Rubin, Harold Ramis

Stars: Andie MacDowell, Bill Murray, Chris Elliott

What would you do if you had to live the same day over and over… and over? 

And over.

...and over.

Chances are pretty good that you'd do some kind of version of what Groundhog Day's Phil Connors does: respond with a total disbelieving freak out, followed by a hedonistic whirlwind, followed by some serious depression, followed by learning all the skills you always wanted to learn and becoming a great person.

We say this for two reasons.

Reason 1: Phil Connor's actions pretty closely follow four of the five stages of grief: denial, anger, depression, and acceptance. You're pretty much guaranteed to freak out, lash out, get bummed out, and then chill out after something really big and upsetting (whether it's the death of your goldfish Glubby or being stuck in and endless loop of the Pennsylvania Polka.)

Reason 2: Because you've seen Groundhog Day.

At its heart, Harold Ramis' 1993 classic comedyis a Scrooge-like story of how a big jerk learns to be a good person after spending years reliving the same day over and over. It doesn't happen overnight, but the longer he relives the same day, the more he realizes that he's in love with a good woman named Rita and that he truly wants to be with her.

It might seem like a warm and fuzzy comedy, but Groundhog Day can get dark—especially when Phil Connors decides that the only way to escape his purgatory is to try to kill himself in a dozen different ways.

But amongst all this darkness is a powerful spiritual message, and that's probably why many different religions have looked to this movie as a positive example of a soul's journey from badness into goodness (source). 

Because, at the end of the day, being selfish gets really boring when you've got an eternity in front of you.

We'll tell you why you shouldn't study this film first: you're probably not going to be stuck in an endless time loop, constantly reliving a Groundhog Day full of cold showers and weather-predicting rodents.

Phew, right?

So what can you learn from Groundhog Day now that we've ruled out its usefulness as a primer for the stuck-in-time?

Um: where to start?

Here's a reason: it's consistently voted one of the best movies ever made… or at least one of the "perfect" comedies.

Here's another: it's a famous film by the equally famous Harold Ramis, who influenced several generations of comedians and comedy writers.

How 'bout this one: it's also a film starring Bill Murray, who made the leap from comic everyman to bonafide cultural icon.

Or, hey: it's considered by many to be among the most spiritual movies ever made. Or, if we want to get deep: it's a philosophical treatise on the nature of immorality. Groundhog Day states that, given enough time, immorality gets boring. Being bad feels pretty good… but only for a limited amount of time. After a while, being good starts to feel even better.

The inspiration angle: you don't get to relive one day over and over again. Time's a-wasting. Carpe that diem. Do what you love. Start those piano lessons or that ice-sculpting class today…because you don't have the luxury of time that Phil Connors does.

Did we get too deep for you? Well, we'll end on a light note: Groundhog Day is also laugh-out-loud hilarious, with the right balance of the dark and macabre and the silly and romantic to keep you chucking throughout.