Groundhog's Day - what's really happening?

[Balance]

@Hilarity_N.Suze

How that explains everybody in town knowing him, at the end, I will never know. I mean sure, he figured out how to help everybody out, but still from their perspective it was always just one day. It was established that he could talk to someone one day and learn the secrets of their heart, only to have them forget entirely so he could use those secrets against them the next day. So how come at the end they all knew him?

Well, there were only about 6000 people in the town, and a sizable percentage of them were present when, first thing that morning, he made a speech for the news that amounted to a glowing tribute to the people of the town. That undoubtedly won him a lot of recognition and favor. Then he spent most of the day helping people, sometimes in very public ways–he saved Buster’s life in the middle of a crowded restaurant, for instance. It’s also implied that he did a lot more than we saw. He almost certainly had to introduce himself a few times (as “Dr.” Connors, for instance), and word got around.

Even so, not everyone knew his name–the old ladies just called him “that nice young man from the Motor Club”.

[JohnT]

Eta: Nm

[JohnT]

@Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension

It had been a very good day. He had, from the perspective of the townsfolk, met and made a difference in the lives of very many people. Only he, and we or course, know that it was through much repetition that he was able to get it right that one time.

In other words, they’d met him earlier in the day, and he’s made a hell of an impression.

Don’t forget the piano teacher saying to Andie “I taught him everything he knows”, which implies that she, at least, remembered.

[Balance]

@JohnT

Don’t forget the piano teacher saying to Andie “I taught him everything he knows”, which implies that she, at least, remembered.

Not exactly. She says, “He’s my student.” I would guess that he goes to her every day for another “first lesson” to practice. He showed up, paid for a lesson, and practiced under her supervision that day. That means it’s technically true, even though she doesn’t remember actually teaching him anything.

[Freddy_the_Pig]

@Balance

That means it’s technically true, even though she doesn’t remember actually teaching him anything.

Indeed, by that time, Phil is playing at a level where it’s doubtful that a children’s piano teacher could teach him anything. But even so, the remark makes sense.

From the teacher’s point of view, Phil is “unexpectedly” snowed in and so decides to provide a little entertainment at the town dance that night. To do that, he needs a piano for some last-minute practice. Why not knock on the door of a local piano teacher? She obliges him.

When she says, “He’s my student”, it’s a little inside joke between her and Phil; she didn’t really teach him anything, she just provided a room and a piano. Only Phil understands that she really was her teacher.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Just one more way in which the movie is an act of genius.

[Biotop]

Perhaps Phil is still caught in the loop.

At the same time, every one of his days continues. We just don’t see the next day results. The end of the movie just follows one of the days, albeit a near-perfect one. Elsewhere Phil is waking up again, reliving the day in some new way. That day also continues, with results depending on the actions from that day.

I imagine that the universe is splitting endlessly on Groundhog Day, with each path following a different direction.