Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Groundhog Day

Actions

At the beginning of this movie, Phil Connors basically acts as selfishly as a person is capable of acting. He looks out only for himself and wants to be left alone. But as the movie unfolds, he tries to change his behavior in order to make people (especially Rita) like him more. He doesn't quite realize though that there's more to being a good person than just changing your actions. You have to actually care about people… or nice folks like Rita will see through you.

By the end of the movie, Phil puts all of his efforts into being as good a person as possible and he runs all around Punxsutawney helping people in various way. And that's the kind of good-heartedness that finally wins him Rita's love.

Sex and Love

Phil Connors only cares about having sex with beautiful women—at least that's the case at the beginning of this movie. After he realizes he's living the same day over and over, he uses his knowledge of this day to trick a woman named Nancy into sleeping with him. He even lies to her and tells her he loves her to get her into bed.

When he tries this same trick on Rita later, however, Rita calls him out for thinking that love is just tricking someone into having sex with you. It's not until later that Phil learns what true love is. True love is being kind to everyone and finding someone special to share that kindness with.

Awwww.

Thoughts and Opinions

You can see an instant clash between Phil Connor's opinions and Rita's in the opening scenes of this movie. Phil thinks that the small town of Punxsutawney and its Groundhog Day festival are dumb while Rita thinks it's all very wholesome and nice. It's only as the movie goes on that Phil becomes more like Rita.

Rita doesn't really change at all because this movie takes her as its moral center from the get-go. If you watch this movie and only pay attention to thoughts and opinions, you'll see that pretty much every conversation Phil and Rita have is a conversation about how people should live their lives.

Speech and Dialogue

Phil Connors could win a prize for sarcasm at the beginning of this movie. It's only after having thousands of conversations with Rita that he eventually changes the way he talks to people. By the end of the movie, Phil gives a passionate speech about how wonderful the little town of Punxsutawney and its people are.

The speech is sincere because Phil has learned to become a more sincere person. There's no trace of the snide (and yeah, hilarious) sarcasm that we see earlier in the movie. And we don't just see this in his conversations with Rita. We see it in the way he speaks to everyone he meets—even people like the horrific Ned Ryerson.

Occupation

Phil Connors is a weatherman working for a local news team in Pittsburgh. But he likes to think he'll make the big-time someday and become super famous. His producer Rita would like to do well in her career too, but the two of them have very different views on how they'd like to get where they're going. Phil just wants to rocket to the top and step over whomever he has to in order to make it happen.

Rita wants to be a good person and to pursue her career in addition to a lot of other worthwhile causes. The movie is pretty clear when it says that you don't have to give up ambition to be a good person… and that's one of the most valuable things Phil Connors learns.