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Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)

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Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993) Empty Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)

Post by Admin Sun Oct 18, 2015 9:04 am

Identify the genre(s) [if applicable], the main plot points and the clichés [if any].

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Post by funfunfun Mon Oct 19, 2015 12:07 am

Groundhog Day fits into the comedy, romance and fantasy genres. I could say the sci-fi genre would fit with this film because of its plot, but the film doesn’t delve too deep into how or why the day is repeated and there’s no other elements that point towards the sci-fi genre and because of this, I think the fantasy genre is more suitable for the film.

The whole plot is that a weatherman finds himself living the same day over and over again. Bill Murray plays Phil Conners, a cynical weatherman who has to do a report on the holiday known as Groundhog Day in a town called Punxsutawney. He travels there with Larry, the cameraman and Rita, a news producer. Phil can’t wait for the day to be over and wants to leave the town, but a snowstorm blocks the only road out and Phil and the team have no choice but to head back to the town. Phil wakes up the same day and at first doesn’t believe it but he slowly comes to realise it as he wakes up in the same day over and over again. He takes an interest in his colleague, Rita, and uses the advantage of the time loop to get to know her likes and dislikes to create the ‘perfect date’. The date doesn’t end up so well after many do-overs so he decides to tell her what is happening to him. She eventually believes him and he ends up developing romantic feelings for her. Near the end, he decides to use the time loop to help people in the town, surprising his reporting team with his positive attitude. The time loop finally ends and he wakes up the next day. The experience changed his attitude and his views towards everyone and the town and he even says he wants to buy a house there.


This film is so popular that the very concept turned into a cliché. Whenever another film has the time loop plot, it’s compared to Groundhog Day. It brought a new and interesting approach to the romantic comedy hybrid genre, but it doesn’t mean it’s without its own clichés. Bill Murray playing a sarcastic/cynical character is a cliché because it’s what he does best. The annoying, overly cheerful, in-your-face insurance guy is also a cliché, seen in other films. The happy ending is a cliché because Hollywood loves happy endings and if that scenario happened to someone in real life, I doubt they would come away from it cheerful and positive. It's hard for Hollywood to steer clear from clichés, especially in the romantic comedy genre but Groundhog Day proves to be an enjoyable watch for all.

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Post by Admin Sun Nov 15, 2015 9:49 pm

There has been a tendency across all the threads to make plot summaries, which was good but needed to be related to the main plot events, the structure of the plot. This seems to be missing from almost every post. I would like you all to reflect on that, check the slides on the hero journey and the three act structure. I will copy this in all the other threads, just in case people are only reading one thread.

Very well done on your opening paragraph, you explain very well why it might be considered sci-fi but what elements make you think otherwise.

Good work on the clichés, just make sure you do not confuse them with genre conventions, as it would be the happy ending. However, I agree, the insurance guy is 100% a cliché!

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