Screenplay Eight: Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day (1992)
Danny Rubin
Click for screenplay.
PHIL: ...I'm telling you, I'm immortal... I've been run over, drowned, crushed, stabbed, shot, electrocuted, poisoned, frozen, burned, and asphyxiated - 
WAITER: The special today is blueberry waffles.
RITA: Why are you telling me this?
WAITER (shrugs): Because some people like blueberry waffles.

http://b-i.forbesimg.com/markrogowsky/files/2014/01/groundhog-day-driving.jpg

Many people are astounded that I've gotten this far in life without having seen Groundhog Day, given my penchant for films that play with narrative and offer potential insights into the human psyche. After seeing Being John Malkovich (a film praised for similar qualities) and finding it to be over-hyped and *cough-cough* mediocre at best, I've never felt the urge to watch Groundhog Day. Today, I cheated my way out of that film-buff requirement by reading the screenplay instead.

While I can't say that the screenplay inspired me to watch the film, I can say that it was better than I expected. This might possibly be due to expectations based on my incorrect assumption that Jim Carrey, not Bill Murray played the lead role. (I know that is an embarrassing admission, but you'll have to forgive me.) As I haven't liked any of Carrey's films, I was intrigued as I read the script and imagined him delivering the lines. Oops. Just know that I went through this entire screenplay with the understanding that Phil Connors was, in fact, Jim Carrey.

ANYWAY









Let's just plow straight ahead into the Seven Steps, since I'm not really sure how else to approach this one.






The Seven Steps: 

1) Once upon a time, Phil Connors works as a weatherman for a Philadelphia television station. He's a self-centered, cocky womanizer, and, as he puts it, is "not that fond of [his] fellow man." He's interested in a new producer named Rita, but she has no interest in him.

2) And every day year, Phil is required to travel to Punxsutawney for Groundhog Day to cover the event. He hates it because he thinks it's below his talent.

3) Until one day year, Phil is approached by Stephanie DeCastro (a coworker that has developed a crush on him). Stephanie is upset at Phil's disinterest in pursuing a relationship with her. Phil assures her that he will think about them during his Groundhog Day trip.

4) And because of this, while Phil drives out to Punxsutawney with Rita, Stephanie casts a curse that requires Phil to live February second over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over 

5) And because of this, Phil explores a world in which his daily actions have no consequences. No matter what he does, he wakes up the next morning to discover that he is reliving Groundhog Day. While he originally finds it exciting and liberating, it slowly drives him crazy. He loses interest in his selfish romantic flings and becomes obsessed with Rita. One day he convinces her of what's happening to him, and she tries to stay with him all night in the hopes that it will help end the cycle. It doesn't, but it does change his perspective - he gets to know other people, learns new skills, and even saves the lives of several town residents. 

6) Until finally, he re-explains the situation to Rita and claims that he now lives every day as if it's his last. Rita ends up spending the night (presumably in an intimate capacity). They wake up the next morning, and it's (finally) February third.

7) And ever since that day, Phil's life follows a linear path, but he has a new outlook on life that took him thousands of years of the same exact day to develop.






The step that I feel the least confident about is #6, which is frustrating, because this is the climax the story. Here's the portion of the script that really confuses me.

(Phil has just created a beautiful snow sculpture identical to Rita.) 

PHIL: This is how I see you. When it all gets too much, I just close my eyes and there you are-- just like this. Take it home and keep it in the freezer. 

(Rita embraces Phil. They are about to kiss, looking deep into each others eyes.) 

PHIL: This one's for the Frog Prince. 

RITA: What? 

PHIL: Nothing. 

(They kiss - a long, deep, soul-stirring kiss.) 

PHIL: Will you come with me? 

(Rita nods. They continue standing there, embracing, warming each other in the cold night air.) 

RITA (looks back at the ice sculpture):  We're just going to leave her? 

PHIL:  It doesn't matter. Really, it doesn't. 

(They kiss again.) 

CUT TO: CLOSE UP - THE CLOCK 

(The digital clock-radio changes from 5:59 to 6:00. Silence. No Sonny and Cher, no deejays-- nothing. Phil sits up in bed. He looks around the room. Things are different, messier. Then he sees the covers move. Wide-eyed now, he looks over and sees Rita waking up, snuggling deep under the covers.) 

PHIL (disbelieving):  It's not true. It's not. It can't be true. Rita? Rita!

So... this time, it's different, because he has spent a billion years doing good and thinking about others rather than himself, and he finally gets the girl, and now the curse is lifted?

? ? ? ??? ? ? ???? ? ?? ? ? ?

Why didn't it break sooner? He had been saving people and showing an interest in the world outside himself for a while. The key difference is that he hadn't slept with Rita. I don't understand why the magic touch (so to speak) was Getting the Girl.

It's frustrating, because I think the screenplay's armature embodies an important and relatable message that we should all take to heart: live life to fullest, as if each day were your last, mixed with think of others and not just yourself (see the somewhat heavy-handed foreshadowing/phrasing-of-the-armature below).

STEPHANIE: You know what's wrong with you, Phil? You're selfish. You don't have time for anyone but yourself. 

Stephanie says this within the first few pages, and Phil proves through various actions that he has begun to think of others beyond himself, wayyyyy before he sleeps with Rita.

The problem is that there is a disconnect between a valuable theme with powerful metaphors and symbols, and the actual plot of the story itself. It feels as though Rubin didn't know how to wrap it all up so he just wrote a romantic snow scene (hey, it worked for Tim Burton) and hoped the audience would be so emotionally wrapped up in the romance that they forgot about the point of the story (personally, I would argue that device worked better for Burton).

Here are some moments that represent the whole time-loop thing really well.

HAWLEY: It's February first, Phil. You know what tomorrow is? 

PHIL: Oh, no! Not again.

PHIL: Jesus, Gil, give me a break, will you? I covered the goddamn groundhog last year and the year before that. 

HAWLEY: And you'll do it next year and year after, too...

STEPHANIE: I had our charts done. My astrologer says we're extremely compatible. There may even be some past lives involvement here. 

PHIL: See? So we've already done this. Let's move on. Next case.

These quotations are from very early on in the script, and act as nice (if somewhat heavy-handed, again) foreshadowing for events later on. For me, this showcases some pretty clever writing, in that the deeper meaning doesn't make itself apparent unless you know the events of the story already.

Phil's character development is also easy to track.

(As [Phil watches old Groundhog Day tapes,] he stuffs a number of personal items in an overnight bag, all the time watching himself on the TV monitor.)

DEEJAY: ...do you think Phil's going to come out and see his shadow? 

SIDEKICK: Punxsutawney Phil. 

(Phil looks up at himself in the mirror, admiring his own face.)

Again, two early quotations that prove Phil's self-centeredness. By the end of the screenplay, he is saving people's lives all over the place. Bam. Straightforward, but I think the message is one that I value enough to not be bothered by the fact that it's so simplistic. 

And now it's time for me to use this screenplay review as a chance to prove that my philosophy class last year has stuck with me!

I took a class that discussed the philosophies of Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, and Friedrich Nietzsche. One of most interesting concepts that we discussed was Nietzsche's concept of eternal return. (I'd like to point out that I just went upstairs, dug around in all my previous class notebooks, found the right one, and found the notes I took in class on the subject of eternal return. All for a blog for which I go without payment or credit. #dedication )

(And I just went back upstairs to find my copy of Nietzsche's Gay Science, in which he first discusses eternal return. #ultimatededication #ultimatenerd )

Luckily for you, I'm going to try and simply a crazy German philosopher's concept! (Keyword: try.)

The heaviest weight. What if some day or night a demon were to... say to you: 'This life as you now live it and have lived it you will have to live once again and innumerable times again; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sign and everything unspeakably small or great in your life must return to you...' Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? ...the question in each and every thing, 'Do you want this again and innumerable times again?' would lie on your actions as the heaviest weight! Or how well disposed would you have to become to yourself and to life to long for nothing more fervently than for this ultimate eternal confirmation and seal?

Long story short, if I'm interpreting my notes correctly, Nietzsche is trying to say that IF this were true, then worrying about the future is pointless. There is no future - it's just a series of events that are going to happen forever. So live in the moment! (I think!)

And this brings us back to Groundhog Day. Phil's decisions have no long-term consequences, because he'll just wake up and live in an identical environment the following day. 

PHIL: I don't worry about anything anymore.

When he shows off his seemingly-supernatural awareness to Rita and questions whether he is some sort of god, she (duh) doesn't believe him. 

RITA: This is some kind of trick. 

PHIL: Yes, it's a trick. But maybe the real god cheats, too. Maybe God isn't omnipotent - he's just had a lot of practice.

This is the first point where Phil's experience strays from Nietzsche's ideal understanding of eternal recurrence. Nietzsche wants us to live each day to the fullest, with no regard for the future - but here, Phil admits that he is learning new things every day and using his newfound knowledge for some end goal. Nietzsche doesn't necessarily support that; Rubin is breaking away from Nietzschean philosophy for an admittedly more optimistic understanding.

The second breakaway point is that, perhaps ironically, the egocentric Phil that enters the infinite loop is closer to Nietzsche's expectations of the best way to live through eternal recurrence. Early-Phil lives each day to the fullest and doesn't make choices based on a higher level of morality. End-of-the-Screenplay-Phil questions this philosophy. This Phil is moving towards a higher morality, thanks to Rita's influence, as quoted below.

PHIL: But what if the rules changed? What if none of your actions had consequences? 

RITA: There would still be an absolute morality. There has to be an absolute good, regardless of the circumstances.

Here's Rita's philosophy all spelled out:

RITA: Sometimes I wish I had a thousand lifetimes. One to be a great journalist. One to, I don’t know, go back to school, study art, or auto mechanics. One just to take care of all the busy work, you know, pay the bills, get my car tuned up. One to be wild woman of Borneo. One to be Mother Theresa. Maybe it’s not a curse, Phil. It all just depends on how you look at it.

...philosophy derailment aside, the screenplay was pretty good, but I just feel like the ending doesn't live up to the armature. Mostly I got excited because this proves my philosophy class has at least one connection to something that isn't philosophy.