For Thursday, February 6, 1997 Drummer Column, Gibbs, 727 words

Loop de loop

On Ground Hog Day my wife ran out and rented Groundhog Day, the Bill Murray comedy. Four times we've seen this movie.

We've seen a lot of good movies once. We seldom re-rent any movie, and we don't own much of a video collection. Still, there's something magical about rerunning Groundhog Day. Anyone who has seen it can understand the irony. The movie is about a self-centered creep who is trapped reliving the same day for about six weeks, until he gets his act straight.

On first viewing we mostly laughed at the jokes and enjoyed the happy ending. Murray plays Phil the weatherman visiting Punxsutawney, PA., to cover the groundhog ceremony. With him is Rita, his beautiful, intelligent, single producer, played by Andie MacDowell. At the ceremony Phil the groundhog sees his shadow, which casts us into six more weeks of winter. Phil the weatherman spends the rest of his day alone and miserable. A storm has trapped them in Punxsutawney, and his camera crew avoids him.

The next morning, mysteriously, Phil wakes up again on February 2 at 6 a.m. to Sonny and Cher singing "I Got You, Babe." He's dazed for a day or two, and then he begins to experiment. This is when the story takes off. Director-cowriter Harold Ramis runs Phil through a long, creative array of antics, mood swings, and attitude adjustments.

The second time we watched this film we focused more on the variety of ways that Phil spends his days. By being reborn each morning, he is free to do anything, including die. At six a.m. sharp, no matter what happens, he wakes up back in bed listening to "I Got You, Babe."

Each day becomes a microcosm of the rest of his life. For a while he figures nothing matters and becomes a lawless degenerate. He pulls an armored car heist and spends it all. He seduces women by interrogating them one day and pretending to know them the next. He tries this repeatedly on Rita and she repeatedly jilts him. He falls in love, loses hope, and becomes a suicidal maniac. He becomes spiritual. He learns to play the piano. He saves lives and makes dozens of friends, all in one day.

The third time we saw Ground Hog Day we focused on the overall transformation in Murray's character. The stages represent the true-to-life process of becoming a fully realized individual. Phil is wild, greedy, rude, depressed, angry, desperate, lonesome, and eventually spiritual, thoughtful, romantic, honest, and full of compassion. In the end he wins the girl, not by pursuing her, but by becoming a good man. They fall in love, and Phil wakes up tomorrow, February 3.

This last rental we savored the overall message: We reap what we sow, and we are doomed to repeat our mistakes if we don't learn from them. Except for the jokes, we no longer think of Ground Hog Day as a comedy. It's a clever whole-life drama, a philosophical, psychological, optimistic examination of man's ability to change.

What's doubly ironic is that as the film sits back on its shelf at the video store, Phil is still trapped inside the box reliving Ground Hog Day forever. He'll be there again next year.

I can't help but end with a reference to the one other movie we rent repeatedly. It is the 1984 version of The Razor's Edge, based on the novel by Somerset Maugham. By coincidence it also stars Bill Murray. The original Oscar-Nominated 1946 film won Anne Baxter the Academy Award for Supporting Actress, but we like the new version. Murray's deadpan makes us dig to understand his feelings.

It's the story of a disillusioned WW I veteran who travels the world searching for the meaning of life. He eventually visits India, and even climbs a mountain top. After this spiritual journey, believing he's resolved life's mystery, he returns to society and expects to be rewarded for his enlightenment by leading a trouble-free life. Wrong. Then he's enlightened again and the movie ends.

While I'm writing this, President Clinton is on TV giving his State of the Union Address. I'm listening to it down the hall. He's talking about doing some big-time tinkering with education - changes, funding, increased standards. I've heard this before. Is it Ground Hog Day? Or will Bill lead us into tomorrow?