Groundhog Day (1993) - Quotes

Quotes about Groundhog Day: [[w:Harold Ramis|Ramis; [change; [w:bodhisattva|bodhisattva] Phil says, “I’ve killed myself so many times, I don’t even exist anymore.” “Now,” ] comments, “Phil is ready for ].” And, typical of a Ramis film, change means Phil becomes the good guy, the ] who performs selfless acts of kindness, not manipulatively, but for their own sake. This, naturally, wins him the love of the whole town, and, naturally, of Rita. And not surprisingly, he comes to love himself. “No matter what happens tomorrow, or for the rest of my life,” Phil tells Rita, “I’m happy now because I love you.” Sure, it's a Hollywood ending. But Ramis would have it no other way. In his commentary on the fifteenth anniversary DVD, he confessed: “I’m such a sap. I actually believe in this stuff. The movie is quite sincere.”

Quotes about Groundhog Day: [[w:Harold Ramis|Ramis; [w:Danny Rubin|Danny Rubin; [Buddhism|Buddhist; [Buddha; [Christianity|Christian; [Judaism|Jewish] Groundhog Day, the 1993 film ] directed and co-wrote with ], became an underground ] classic, despite the fact that the words “Buddhist” or “]” never appear in the script, or that neither Ramis nor Rubin intended it to be Buddhist or ] or ] or any of the other denominations that say it speaks to them and for them. And despite the fact that the film is, after all, a comedy. A comedic take on Buddhism? That alone could earn merit points these days when many Buddhist meditators and scholars seem to have forgotten the light touch of numerous teachers over the centuries.

Quotes about Groundhog Day: [[Roger Ebert] * ], in Groundhog Day (1993) in Chicago Sun-Times (30 January 2005)

Quotes about Groundhog Day: [[Angels|angel] A long article in the British newspaper the Independent says "Groundhog Day" is "hailed by religious leaders as the most spiritual film of all time." Perhaps not all religious leaders have seen anything by Bergman, Bresson, Ozu and Dreyer, but never mind: They have a point, even about a film where the deepest theological observation is, "Maybe God has just been around a long time and knows everything." What amazes me about the movie is that Murray and Ramis get away with it. They never lose their nerve. Phil undergoes his transformation but never loses his edge. He becomes a better Phil, not a different Phil. The movie doesn't get all soppy at the end. There is the dark period when he tries to kill himself, the reckless period when he crashes his car because he knows it doesn't matter, the times of despair. We see that life is like that. Tomorrow will come, and whether or not it is always Feb. 2, all we can do about it is be the best person we know how to be. The good news is that we can learn to be better people. There is a moment when Phil tells Rita, "When you stand in the snow, you look like an angel." The point is not that he has come to love Rita. It is that he has learned to see the ].

Quotes about Groundhog Day: [[genius] Groundhog Day is a film that finds its note and purpose so precisely that its ] may not be immediately noticeable. It unfolds so inevitably, is so entertaining, so apparently effortless, that you have to stand back and slap yourself before you see how good it really is. Certainly I underrated it in my original review; I enjoyed it so easily that I was seduced into cheerful moderation. But there are a few films, and this is one of them, that burrow into our memories and become reference points. When you find yourself needing the phrase This is like "Groundhog Day" to explain how you feel, a movie has accomplished something.

Quotes about Groundhog Day: [[time] Formula comedies are a dime a dozen. Those based on an original idea are more rare, and "Groundhog Day," apart from everything else, is a demonstration of the way ] can sometimes give us a break. Just because we're born as SOBs doesn't mean we have to live that way.

Quotes about Groundhog Day: [[redemption; [Religion; [w:samsara|samsara; [nirvana; [w:Mahayana|Mahayana; [Buddhism; [w:bodhisattvas|bodhisattvas; [Dalai Lama; [Bill Murray] Groundhog Day is now associated in the minds of many spiritual seekers with ], rebirth and the process of moving to a higher plane. Professor Angela Zito, the co-director of the Centre for ] and Media at New York University, told me that Groundhog Day illustrated the Buddhist notion of ], the continuing cycle of rebirth that individuals try to escape. In the older form of Buddhist belief, she said, no one can escape to ] unless they work hard and lead a very good life. But in the teachings of the slightly more recently established ] ], no one can escape samsara until everyone else does. "That's why you have what are called ] who reach the brink of nirvana and come back for others," she said. "The ] is considered one living bodhisattva, but ] could also be one.

Quotes about Groundhog Day: [[w:Peter Baynham|Peter Baynham; http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/07/groundhog-day-perfect-comedy-for-ever "Groundhog Day: the perfect comedy, for ever" in ''The Guardian'' (7 February 2013)] * ], as quoted in

Quotes about Groundhog Day: [[Comedy|comedies; [Back to the Future] With so many movies, especially ], you can see the bones sticking out – you can see what they're trying to do. But Groundhog Day is such a clever, wonderful ride that you don't notice the joins. It's rare for a comedy to be funny and profound but also popular. Films such as Groundhog Day and ] sold a lot of popcorn, but they were insanely smart too. That's very inspiring when you're sitting there trying to write a comedy screenplay. Groundhog Day is living proof that it's possible to create intelligent comedy that still has a broad appeal.

Phil: Do you know what today is?

Rita: No, what?

Phil: Today is tomorrow! It happened! You're here!

Rita: [Phil kisses her over and over, realizing that he has finally passed Groundhog Day] I'm here. Oh Phil, why weren't you like this last night? You just fell asleep.

Phil: It was the end of a very long day.

Phil: Something is...different.

Rita: Good or bad?

Phil: [kisses Rita] Anything different is good. But this could be real good. Why are you here?

Rita: I bought you. I own you.

Phil: But why are you still here?

Rita: You said, "Stay," so I stayed.

Phil: I said, "Stay," so you stayed? I can't even make a collie stay.

Rita: Why can't I see it?

Phil: I just want to give you your money's worth. You paid top dollar for me.

Rita: Well...I think you were a bargain.

Phil: It's sweet of you to say. You're probably right.

Piano teacher: Not bad, Mr. Connors! You say this is your first lesson?

Phil: Yes, but my father was a piano mover, so...

Phil: [talking to a sleeping Rita; kisses her cheek] I think you're the kindest, sweetest, prettiest person I've ever met in my life. I've never seen anyone that's nicer to people than you are. The first time I saw you...something happened to me. I never told you but...I knew that I wanted to hold you as hard as I could. I don't deserve someone like you. But if I ever could, I swear I would love you for the rest of my life.

Rita: [waking up a bit] Did you say something?

Phil: Good night.

Rita: [going back to sleep] Good night.

Rita: What about me, Phil? Do you know me too?

Phil: I know all about you. You like producing, but you hope for more than Channel 9 Pittsburgh.

Rita: Well, everyone knows that!

Phil: You like boats, but not the ocean. You go to a lake in summer with your family up in the mountains. There's a long wooden dock and a boathouse with boards missing from the roof, and a place you used to crawl underneath to be alone. You're a sucker for French poetry and rhinestones. You're very generous. You're kind to strangers and children, and when you stand in the snow you look like an angel.

Rita: How are you doing this?

Phil: I told you. 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.

Rita: I'm sorry? What was that again?

Phil: [[Deity|a god] I'm ].

Rita: [[God] You're ].

Phil: I'm a god - I'm not the God, I don't think.

Rita: Because you survived a car wreck?

Phil: I didn't just survive a wreck; I wasn't just blown up yesterday. I have been stabbed, shot, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted and burned.

Rita: Oh, really?

Phil: [nods] Every morning I wake up without a scratch on me, not a dent in the fender: I am an immortal.

Doris: Special today is blueberry waffles—

Rita: Why are you telling me this?

Phil: Because I want you to believe in me.

Rita: You're not a god. You can take my word for it; this is 12 years of Catholic school talkin'.

Phil: How do you know I'm not a god? How do you know?

Rita: Because it's not possible!

Rita: I'm amazed. And I'm not easily amazed.

Phil: About what?

Rita: About how you can start a day with one kind of expectation and end up so completely different.

Phil: Well, do you like how the day is turning out?

Rita: Very much. You couldn't plan a day like this.

Phil: Well, you can. It just takes an awful lot of work.

Rita: [[déjà vu] There is something so familiar about this. Do you ever have ]?

Phil: Didn't you just ask me that?

Phil: It's the same thing your whole life. "Clean up your room! Stand up straight! Pick up your feet! Take it like a man! Be nice to your sister! Don't mix beer and wine, ever! Oh yeah, don't drive on the railway tracks!

Gus: [sobering up] Well, Phil, that's one I happen to agree with.

Phil: [driving into the rail tracks; a train approaches] I don't know, Gus...Sometimes, you just have to take the big chances. I'm betting he's going to swerve first...

Phil: What if there were no tomorrow?

Gus: No tomorrow? That would mean there would be no consequences. There would be no hangovers. We could do whatever we wanted!

Phil: That's true. We could do whatever we want.

Phil: What would you do if you were stuck in one place, and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?

Ralph: That about sums it up for me.

Ned: [runs up to him] Phil?! Hey! Phil? Phil? Phil Connors? Phil Connors, I thought that was you!

Phil: Hi, how are you doing? Thanks for watching.

Ned: Hey, hey! Now don't you tell me you don't remember me cause I sure as heckfire remember you!

Phil: Not a chance.

Ned: Ned! Ryerson! "Needlenose Ned"? "Ned the Head"? Come on, buddy, Case Western High! Ned Ryerson - I did the whistling belly-button trick at the high school talent show? Bing! Ned Ryerson - got the shingles real bad senior year, almost didn't graduate? Bing again! Ned Ryerson - I dated your sister Mary Pat a couple of times until you told me not to anymore? Well?

Phil: Ned Ryerson?

Ned: Bing!

Phil: Bing. So did you turn pro with that whole belly-button thing Ned or-?

Ned: No, Phil, I sell insurance.

Phil: What a shock.

Ned: Do you have life insurance? Because if you do you could always use a little more. Am I right or am I right or am I right? Right? Right? Right?

Phil: [walks off] Ned, I'd love to stand here and talk with you...but I'm not going to. See you.

Ned: [laughs; stops walking] That's okay! I'll walk with you! See, whenever I see an opportunity, I charge it like a bull. "Ned the Bull", that's me now. You know, I have friends who live and die by the actuarial tables and I say, "Hey! It's all one big crap-shoot anywho!" Tell me, have you ever heard of single premium life because I think that could really be the ticket for you. Oh, God! It is so good to see you! Tell me, what are you doing for dinner?

Phil: [steps off the curb into a deep, watery puddle] Something else. It's been great seeing you, "Needlehead". Take care.

Ned: [laughs obnoxiously] Whoa-ho-ho! Watch out for that first step! It's a doozy!

D.J. 1: Okay, campers, rise and shine and don't forget your booties, cause it's cold out there today!

D.J. 2: It's cold out there every day! What is this, Miami Beach?

D.J. 1: Not hardly. And you know, you can expect hazardous travel later today with that, you know, that, uh, that blizzard thing.

D.J. 2: That blizzard - thing. That blizzard - thing. Oh, well, here's the report! The National Weather Service is calling for a "big blizzard thing"!

D.J. 1: Yessss, they are. But you know, there's another reason why today is especially exciting.

D.J. 2: Especially cold!

D.J. 1: Especially cold, okay, but the big question on everybody's lips...

D.J. 2: On their chapped lips...

D.J. 1: On their chapped lips, right: Do ya think Phil is gonna come out and see his shadow?

D.J. 2: [[w:Punxsutawney Phil|Punxsutawney Phil] ]!

D.J. 1: That's right, woodchuck-chuckers - it's...

D.J. 1 and D.J. 2: [in unison] GROUNDHOG DAY!

D.J. 1: Get up and pull that hog out!

Rita Hanson: Sometimes I wish I had a thousand lifetimes. I don't know, Phil. Maybe it's not a curse. Just depends on how you look at it.

Phil Connors: When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter. This is Phil Connors. So long.

Phil Connors: Once again, the eyes of the nation have turned here to this...tiny village in western Pennsylvania. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. There is no way this winter is ever going to end, as long as this groundhog keeps seeing his shadow. I don't see any other way out. He's got to be stopped. And I have to stop him.

Phil Connors: [to the people; to Larry; Larry shakes his head; to Rita] This is pitiful. A thousand people freezing their butts off, waiting to worship a rat. What a hype! Groundhog Day used to mean something in this town. They used to pull the hog out and they used to eat it! You're hypocrites! All of you! You got a problem with what I'm saying? Untie your tongue, and you come out here and talk. Am I upsetting you, Princess? You want a prediction about the weather, you're asking the wrong Phil. I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life.

Phil Connors: I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank piña coladas. At sunset we made love like sea otters. That was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get that day over and over and over?

Phil Connors: [dial tone; hangs up the phone. He breaks a pencil and places one half in front of the clock and the other on top] Yeah, sport, I know there's a blizzard. When are the long-distance lines gonna be repaired? Well, what if there is no tomorrow?! There wasn't one today! Hello? Hello?!

Phil Connors: Well, it's Groundhog Day...again.

Phil Connors: [sarcastically] This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather. I'm Phil Connors, so long.