Wolf Gnards - Latest comments on How Long Does Bill Murray Spend in Groundhog Day?

jbug [Visitor] in response to: How Long Does Bill Murray Spend in Groundhog Day?

jbug [Visitor] — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:04:11 +0000

the only thing we know he started from scratch was piano. he could have already known how to sculpt, throw cards, even speak some french. but i still think 10 years sounds about right.

Me [Visitor] in response to: How Long Does Bill Murray Spend in Groundhog Day?

Me [Visitor] — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:59:51 +0000

I think the whole thread is like debating what kind of saddle is best on a unicorn

jeff29414 [Visitor] in response to: How Long Does Bill Murray Spend in Groundhog Day?

jeff29414 [Visitor] — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:57:24 +0000

LOVE the movie and this discussion.

Just want to propose an idea. Several people have mentioned that you can learn more than one skill at a time, but no one has postulated how to do this using some simple facts from the movie.

He robs the armored car in the early morning - he has tons of money.
1. He knows about the piano teacher, but maybe she isn't the only one and maybe he goes to a music store and buys an electric piano (like the one he uses on stage) and practices throughout the days. A book store would also have books on reading music and other background information. He could also visit several venues to get more musical intuition - but this is a more esoteric thing to learn and would, realistically, take the longest.
2. He goes to the book store and buys one of the many 'learn a foreign language' programs there and finds people around town to talk to or gets a tutor to help - he doesn't need to go to college to learn French.
3. The hardest would be the ice sculpture, but there are plenty of books on that and it mostly takes practice - he could buy basic lessons then practice all he wanted until he was ready for the next lesson.

So - it would have been possible for him to learn all three at the same time - sharing time on each until the mistakes on one made him switch to another.

Again - just an idea. Keep up the great ideas.

Morgan [Visitor] in response to: How Long Does Bill Murray Spend in Groundhog Day?

Morgan [Visitor] — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:47:31 +0000

Well said Scott Duncan!
I was just going to mention how I feel the storyline really relates to our imperfections as humans and how stuborn we can be, but you said it first (and better).
Reading through all the the posts, it's easy to see what people think most about: 50% concentrate on the benefits of having all this time at one's disposal, perfecting skills, improving one level of wellbeing, enjoying a life with no responsibilities, etc. The other 50% go the other way, and underline boredom, depression, suicide and all the other logically horrible things about being stuck in the same 24 hours day after day.

Murray's character is an example of a person we all can relate to in some fashion and that makes him both frightening and hugely enjoyable at the same time.
When I watch this great movie, I find it all too easy to imagine myself in his situation and to think of how hard it would be to do anything much different than he does it.

Btw, being French, I'd like to mention a few things that have been missed in regards to the Jacque Brel poem:

1) Murray's accent is pretty obvious even though disguised in a low whispering murmur as he recites Jacques Brel's poem. This tells me he didn't work on his French for that long.

2) His quote, however, is four lines specifically selected out of a three verse, 40 line each, long poem. I looked it up, I don't actually know it by heart :-). This suggests he really got into seriously reading poetry and understanding it to better impress Rita.

3) The lines he recites also have a doublemeaning in regards to his specific situation. Directly translated, it means:
The girl that I will love
will be like good wine
that get's a little better
with each morning.

Now that's something I can relate to!

ground hog [Visitor] in response to: How Long Does Bill Murray Spend in Groundhog Day?

ground hog [Visitor] — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:47:29 +0000

The perfect day wasn't exactly a perfect day because if you remember, the piano teacher was giving a lesson to a student when Bill Murry walks into the studio. He gives the piano teacher a wad of cash and she kicks the kid out. So he screwed the kid in order to have his perfect day.

ground hog [Visitor] in response to: How Long Does Bill Murray Spend in Groundhog Day?

ground hog [Visitor] — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:46:55 +0000

kryonik [Visitor] in response to: How Long Does Bill Murray Spend in Groundhog Day?

kryonik [Visitor] — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:42:31 +0000

Quick question: what would happen if he pulled an all-nighter?

Dave [Visitor] in response to: How Long Does Bill Murray Spend in Groundhog Day?

Dave [Visitor] — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:13:23 +0000

If he had all this money, couldn't he:

1) have hired three guys to swap in a finished ice sculpture while she was turned the other way?, and
2) hire a guy to play piano off stage and just fake it