"Groundhog Day" tells the story of weatherman Phil Connors, stuck in an endless loop of
alarm clocks, weather reports, and Ned Ryersons.
The cycle is broken at the end of the movie, but not before Phil has re-lived the same
day dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of times.
Exactly how long does it take for Phil to transform from jerk to nice guy?
How many Groundhog Days are in "Groundhog Day"?
Let's find out.
There are lots of ways to count days in this movie, and each one gives a different number.
We'll look at three of them, and let you decide which one is best.
First, the least number of days there could possibly be in the Groundhog Day loop.
To reach this number, we'll only count a new day when we absolutely have to.
So, every time we see Phil waking up to an alarm clock, it must be the start of a new
day.
There are 12 alarm clock scenes in the movie.
The last one is February 3rd, the day AFTER Groundhog Day, so it doesn't count.
So far we're up to 11 days.
Other "new day" indicators include things like: a night scene followed by a day scene
the same scene back to back, or any scene that follows a death scene.
In other spots, a whole LOT of stuff happens right in a row without any obvious new-day
indicators--so we count it all as just one day.
Like when Phil goes through his usual routine, then sees a neurologist in the next scene,
visits a psychiatrist in the next scene, goes to the bowling alley, goes joy-riding and
finally winds up in jail.
It's likely that these things happened over several different days--but it's possible
it all happened in one day, so that's how we're going to count it--just one day.
With this method, Phil lives through at least 33 Groundhog Days: the first one and 32 repeats.
Thirty-three is the minimum number of Groundhog Days in the film.
A second method gives us the maximum number of days shown in the loop.
Instead of cramming a lot into one day, now we're taking the other extreme by assuming
that every time we move to a new scene, we're also witnessing a new day.
For example, after Phil lives though his first Groundhog Day (which we count as day 1) he
wakes up, greets a guy in the hall, talks to the Maitre D., exits the bed and breakfast,
runs into Ned, and so forth and so on, all the way to the end of the loop.
This is an extreme way of counting days that is probably totally bogus.
But it does provide another sort of baseline: the maximum number of Groundhog Days seen
in the film.
Grand total?
91.
Third and final, we'll take the most realistic and comprehensive approach to get the most
accurate number possible--short of actually living in the movie.
But first, a few assumptions: First, Phil is an average guy who learns things at an
average speed.
He's not a superhuman (so he not going go from beginner to pro at the piano in just
learn to play piano in a week or anything crazy like that).
Second, Phil only learns as much as he needs to escape the loop--he doesn't become a master
pianist or become fluent in French or anything.
And third, Phil focuses on one skill or talent or whatever per day.
We'll ignore multitasking.
Okay, let's dive in.
We start our counter at 1 day--the original Groundhog Day Phil lived through.
Next, we'll add all comments Phil makes about time.
There are three of them.
At the theater he says, "I've seen this movie over 100 times."
More than 100, so we'll add 101.
He tells Rita she could learn to throw cards in, "Six months.
Four to five hours a day, and you'd be an expert."
Add six month's-worth.
He lists ways he's died, "I've been stabbed, shot, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted
and burned."
Seven deaths, add seven days.
Next, we'll consider how many days it would take to learn the timing of events.
The timing to... commit the perfect crime
catch a kid at the right instant be ready with a jack to fix a flat
Find, buy and deliver WrestleMania tickets Know instinctually when a tray will drop
Also, memorize all the answers to an episode of Jeopardy
and memorize exactly what Larry is gonna say
Next, we'll add all the skills Phil develops:
How to...
Save a man from choking Play two piano songs like a total pro
Memorize and speak a few lines of French with an accent
Sculpt ice like a champ and adjust a man's back
And finally, all the social growth Phil makes.
Get to know the life stories of... Dorris
Debbie and Fred Bill
Gus Tom
and Alice Seducing Nancy
Arranging a date for the movies Trying (and failing) to save an old man from
dying Befriending Ned Ryerson and buying insurance
And finally (and most significantly for Phil's development), learning every detail of the
life story, quirks, preferences and personality of Rita, and molding yourself into a version
of yourself that she'll fall in love with in just one day.
Grand total?
4,576 days (or 12 years 6 months 11 days).
That's a really, really long time to re-live one day.
It turns out this estimate matches what co-writer and director Harold Ramis thought.
In his audio commentary, Ramis says he thought it'd take about 10 years for Phil to evolve
and break the loop.
Later, Ramis increased this number to 30 or 40 years, to allow for all the downtime and
misguided efforts Phil probably made.
But these extra decades of down time are impossible to account for, since most of the movie focuses
on Phil's growth, not on his wasted time.
In this light, 4,576 days or 12 years 6 months and some change might not be spot on, but
it's at least in the neighborhood.
And for a movie whose message is much more about forgiveness, re-invention, growth, and
love, being in the neighborhood is fine by us.
That's it for our Groundhog Day breakdown!
What do you think of our estimate?
What would you do with all the time in the world?
And what movie should we analyze next?
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Thank you for watching, and remember:
Watch out for that last step, it's a doozie!
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