One of the basic facts of love is that it is personal, and means a slightly different thing each time it occurs.

There are common themes to love, such as shared interests, extended time together, and some intangible spark. Groundhog Day explores this idea of the variation and iteration of love through its unique lens, that lens being a repeated day. It is a good film, but no one part of it makes it good. The quality of the movie is consistently found in each aspect of the filmmaking process.

The basic idea of Groundhog Day is that Phil, a weatherman played by Bill Murray, relives the same day over and over again, which happens to be Groundhog Day. Phil’s job on Groundhog Day is to travel to a town called Punxsutawney, home of a famous groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil. Groundhog Day is an American holiday during which people travel to see what happens when a particular groundhog leaves their burrow on February 2nd. If the groundhog sees their shadow, there will be another six weeks of winter. If they don’t, there will be an early spring. Of the days Phil spends on February 2nd, many of them are devoted to wooing Rita, played by Andie MacDowell, a new producer at the television station Phil works for. Phil can remember the events of each day, while Rita, along with everyone else in the world, cannot. As Phil spends more and more time near Rita, his affection for her grows. Groundhog Day is about Phil’s learning how to be an improved person, specifically one Rita is interested in. The repeated day setup is one of the largest factors contributing to the sublime awesomeness that is Groundhog Day. Through Phil’s repetition, we get a lens into the multitude of things that can happen in one day, and how they combine to shape one’s experiences. The film seeks to present a complete view of Phil’s time in Punxsutawney, and not to give any one day too much focus. This tells the audience that, while any given day can have importance, no one day can make or break someone’s life, and that, in the grand monotony of life, there will be good days, and there will be bad days, but there will always be another day tomorrow, or in Phil’s case, another today.

It is in this repeated day structure that the writing quality begins to show through. Here the greatness comes from the continued presence of side characters. For example, there is an old man whose big moment comes toward the end of the film. Rather than appear two minutes before his character is important, the old man is present throughout the movie, just in a background character role when it is not his time. Most of the side characters play similar roles. This creates a close-knit world with many connections for the audience to get lost in. However, at the start of the film, this is not the world Phil wants to live in. He spends a good portion of the opening scene bemoaning his yearly trip. But as Phil’s love for Rita grows, so does his love for the town. It is the omnipresent side characters that foster this growth.

The story of Groundhog Day is in many ways the story of a small town. Even with the parties and whatnot surrounding the groundhog, Punxsutawney is still not wild the way many movies these days are in terms of cinematography. Here, the film leans on the strength of the script and of the cast. The film is not shot to look spectacular, because there is no spectacle. Cinematography is another tool the film uses to create the environment of a small town. Towns don't have flashing lights. They don't have skyscrapers and packed office buildings. They have inns. And bakeries. And the good butcher down the street who always gives you an extra link of sausage because you're such a good customer. It would not make sense for the film to feature dramatic lighting and special effects because there is not supposed to be anything special about Punxsutawney. The filmmakers clearly ended up with exactly what they set out to film.

Despite the successes of the film, there is one large flaw: part of the story does not hold up. Phil’s main goal throughout the story is Rita. He wants to be with her and spends quite a bit of time trying to become someone she is interested in. The nature of a person, particularly a woman, being someone’s goal in life is frowned upon in the 2020s, and for good reason. Rita’s defining, dynamic characteristic is her relationship to Phil. She is written into the film as the object of Phil’s attention. She is given a full character, but that character does not exist without her relationship with Phil. However, there is some good messaging surrounding this serious flaw. What began as a quest of courtship for Phil ends as a quest for self-betterment. Phil learns that Rita will be interested in him if he becomes a better person. This is the key lesson: being someone who others will fall in love with is not about trying to be like someone else. It is about being a good person and knowing that other people will value that quality. The nature of romantic relationships does give the film a little extra push toward showing this message, but the objectification used to get there detracts from the quality of the film as a whole.

Groundhog Day is a stellar film about love and self-improvement. It is short by today’s standards, coming in at about an hour and 45 minutes. It does not have the bells and whistles associated with the blockbuster hits of today, but its great writing and great cast provide all the spectacle the audience needs. The one problem is the position of Rita as a trophy and not a person, though Phil’s focus is not as problematic throughout the film. I give Groundhog Day 4.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to anyone with Amazon Video and four dollars. This film has some heavy stuff in it, including a few suicidal moments, so it might not be great for young kids. Its core premise is strong, and it doesn't need a theater’s big screen to make the audience feel something.