To the Groundhog

Columbia Pictures

I wake up every day, right here, right in Punxsutawney, and it’s always February 2nd, and there’s nothing I can do about it. – Phil Connors (Bill Murray)

Groundhog Day is one of my favorite movies, definitely in my top ten. It’s funny, it’s a bit philosophical, a bit sad and with a touch of sort of… fantasy? Sci-fi? Well, no matter, it’s generally very well regarded and with good reason. It asks many big questions about what we would do with second, third, fourth, and thousandth chances. How would we behave in a world without consequence, where we are, effectively, immortal? Is Phil in purgatory? Is he in Hell? But it also asks many questions about small things- routine, about daily habits and patterns, the things we do that are so much our second nature that we don’t even realize it. Ultimately the movie provides some answers…