# How many Groundhog Days in the movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2001, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539 "2001-12-03T01:42:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/181 "2011-02-06T17:14:24Z")
I don’t know where you’re headed, Ned, but do you think maybe you could call in sick? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/182 "2011-02-06T17:21:49Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > As has been discussed further upthread, Phil doesn’t need to go to work or anything - he can devote all the time he wants to the pursuit of those skills. He also wasn’t exactly playing a Rachmaninov piano concerto, either - he was playing Boogie Woogie on a digital piano, you don’t need a lifetime to perfect that, if you put your mind to it and practice every day, as he could. > > Same with some of the other stuff - I’m sure it wouldn’t take a lot more than a day to really get to know a person from the town (I’m sure he wasn’t trying to seduce most of them, like with Rita). I’m sure he worked at screwing every attractive woman in town – who wouldn’t? That’s probably two days each, one to learn enough about them and one to use the knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/183 "2011-02-06T17:28:24Z")
I just realized that his scheduled might get more and more restricted as repeating days continued. He would conceivably discover more and things he would need to do every single day, like saving the kid falling out of the tree – he even said he saved him every day. And saving the guy from choking, and fixing the other guy’s bad back, and changing the tire for the old ladies, and who knows what else. Anything he witnesses that he could intervene to save someone, he would need to intervene every time. Plus he probably had to rob the armored car almost every day to finance whatever he did the rest of the day, like taking piano lessons every day for years. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/184 "2011-02-06T20:54:51Z")
I always wondered why the piano teacher was so proud of him being her student. She had no way of knowing that he had begun lessons with her, she’d only known him for one day. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/185 "2011-02-06T21:34:42Z")
Good point. And by the time he got that good, he probably would have stopped having lessons and merely practised every so often, so on that day he would never have been her student. Maybe having a “lesson” was the only place to practice. But yeah, from her point of view she had not improved his playing significantly even if she had met him at all. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/186 "2011-02-06T22:06:17Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Good point. And by the time he got that good, he probably would have stopped having lessons and merely practised every so often, so on that day he would never have been her student. Maybe having a “lesson” was the only place to practice. But yeah, from her point of view she had not improved his playing significantly even if she had met him at all. I believe that’s part of his day of helping people - he makes the teacher believe that he’s really never played the piano before, and that he’s so good because of her. That’s what makes her reaction so funny - of course no sensible teacher would assume they had anything to do with it, but she just wants to be proud of “her” student. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/187 "2011-02-06T22:15:59Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Good point. And by the time he got that good, he probably would have stopped having lessons and merely practised every so often, so on that day he would never have been her student. Maybe having a “lesson” was the only place to practice. But yeah, from her point of view she had not improved his playing significantly even if she had met him at all. But he was her student on the _last_ Groundhog Day, because she knew him at the party and was proud. So he maintained the pretense of being a student until the very end. Though it’s true, after enough studenting, he could have simply rented her piano to keep in practice, or he could have found dome other piano in town, like in a bar or theater, to use for practice. ---
**Author:** ![Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ee7513/32.png) [@Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kim_o_the_Concrete_Jungle)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/188 "2011-02-06T23:40:37Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Good point. And by the time he got that good, he probably would have stopped having lessons and merely practised every so often, so on that day he would never have been her student. Maybe having a “lesson” was the only place to practice. But yeah, from her point of view she had not improved his playing significantly even if she had met him at all. I always read that as the piano teacher boasting about her connection to the most popular man in the room, no matter how tenuous that connection is from her point of view. Phil saying, “Excuse me ma’am, I’m really just booking a lesson so I can practice.” becomes, “I taught him to play piano.” She says it without even realizing it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![Sin\_Serially](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Sin\_Serially](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sin_Serially)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/189 "2011-02-07T00:17:26Z")
In the opening scene, his anchorwoman says that it will be his third year in a row. Phil replies that it will be “four.” So they start the movie with a bit of confusion about time. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/190 "2011-02-07T00:42:04Z")
I thought she was getting in a dig at him, on air. “You’re still doing the Punxsutawney gig? Your career is really going nowhere, huh?” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/191 "2011-02-07T03:44:30Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > I definitely don’t like some of his assumptions. Only 7,000 hours to learn to play piano that way? I just don’t believe that he knocked that out in only four or five years. But still, it’s an interesting exercise and I think he’s close enough to argue the point. And of course, his father was a piano mover, don’t forget. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/192 "2011-02-08T15:46:48Z")
I guess bumping this thread has become a SDMB tradition similar to old [Rudolph](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=48886y) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/193 "2011-02-08T16:29:12Z")
We’ve only bumped it once. But it’s the same bump over and over again. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/194 "2011-02-08T17:17:22Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > I definitely don’t like some of his assumptions. Only 7,000 hours to learn to play piano that way? I just don’t believe that he knocked that out in only four or five years. But still, it’s an interesting exercise and I think he’s close enough to argue the point. I think a larger faulty assumption is that Phil had to limit his piano playing lest he get carpal tunnel. In a universe where you can literally kill yourself and wake up in bed the next morning, I don’t think you can assume anything remotely like that. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/195 "2011-02-08T17:32:31Z")
This is the 5th reanimation of this thread. Makes a guy kinda proud. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/196 "2011-02-08T17:40:34Z")
So, from Rita’s (Andie MacDowell) point of view, Phil (Murray) changes overnight into a completely different person, and/so she sleeps with him. I forget. Did they have a relationship prior to “the day”? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/197 "2011-02-08T18:02:33Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > I thought she was getting in a dig at him, on air. “You’re still doing the Punxsutawney gig? Your career is really going nowhere, huh?” I’ve always thought that too. All the talking heads seem a little bitchy with each other. **mlees** : I don’t think so. Rita was the new producer, and I think they had just met that morning. She only knew of his jerkdom from the ride to Punxsutawney. Phil had a existing acquaintance with the camera guy, Larry, who should have been more stunned by the change. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/198 "2011-02-08T18:06:26Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > I’ve always thought that too. All the talking heads seem a little bitchy with each other. > > **mlees** : I don’t think so. Rita was the new producer, and I think they had just met that morning. She only knew of his jerkdom from the ride to Punxsutawney. Phil had a existing acquaintance with the camera guy, Larry, who should have been more stunned by the change. Ah. Ok. I thought she worked with Phil longer than that. I suppose she could have assumed feel was just grumpy on 1 Feb. We all have bad days. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/199 "2011-02-08T19:18:42Z")
Whether Rita was new or whether they had just never worked together before, you just know Phil has a reputation for being “difficult” and Rita had heard about it, probably before she ever laid eyes on him. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/200 "2011-02-08T21:19:08Z")
Judging by the give-and-take in the van on their way to Punx., I don’t think they’d worked together much before then, if at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539.md?page=11)