20 supremely cozy books and movies for hibernation season
4. Groundhog Day
Once you think about the central conceit of Groundhog Day for more than a few minutes, it gets kind of horrifying. After all, how long is weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) trapped in his time loop? He does get very good at the piano, which isn’t exactly a skill you pick up overnight.
But, work past that, and you’ll see that Groundhog Day is also a story of hope and redemption. If a laconic jerk like Phil Connors can do right, then practically anyone can.
Things start to go wrong for Phil when he travels to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania for — you guessed it — Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney is home to the famous “Punxsutawney Phil”, a local groundhog that supposedly predicts whether or not winter will stick around for six weeks. He does so on Feb. 2, which is (duh) Groundhog Day.
The human Phil, however, is unimpressed. His weather broadcast is dismissive and he’s rude to his producer Rita Hanson (Andie MacDowell) and Larry the cameraman (Chris Elliot). When his broadcast turns out to be inaccurate, all three as stranded in the town by a blizzard. Phil goes to bed early in something of a huff.
That’s where some unknown force finally gets to him. Phil wakes up and quickly discovers that everything is happening exactly as it did the day before. When he goes to bed again, thinking it was all some strange vision, the day repeats itself.
How will Phil get out of this hellish loop? The first few go-rounds of extravagant drunkenness and debauchery don’t seem to work. Neither do the following repeats full of despair, including one incident where he steals Punxsutawney Phil and drives both himself and the groundhog off a cliff. No matter — he wakes up the next morning with the same Sonny & Cher song on the radio.
Could it be that trying to be a better person could save Phil? I mean, if it didn’t, this movie wouldn’t be on the list. Still, it’s genuinely heartwarming to see the cranky, misanthropic weatherman learn how to be a good person over the course of Groundhog Day.