Have You Seen?! The Movie Podcast

Groundhog Day: Rewound And Reconsidered

• Roll Credits Studios • Season 1 • Episode 19

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What happens when a smug weatherman runs out of shortcuts, but not out of mornings? We dive into Groundhog Day as more than a time-loop gag, tracing how a goofy premise evolves into a sharp study of character, choice, and the quiet work of becoming kinder.

We start with the unmistakable 90s texture—color grade, hair, wallpaper—and a quick nod to Harold Ramis’s cameo. From there, we unpack why the movie never explains its magic and still feels satisfying: the mystery forces the focus onto behavior, not lore. Bill Murray’s Phil Connors slides through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, with each reset revealing how performance fails and presence wins. We compare early repetitive beats to the later momentum, showing how smart editing keeps the loop fresh while signaling time’s invisible march.

The conversation hits the dark-comedy middle stretch, the infamous Ned Ryerson moments, and the set pieces that shape Phil’s arc: the groundhog truck joyride, the railroad chaos, the piano lessons that turn into community joy. We spotlight the old man’s death as the story’s moral anchor—control meets its limits, so meaning must live in intention. Along the way, we get into soundtrack choices, “I Got You Babe,” polka fatigue on set, oversized prop clocks for crisp inserts, and how reshoots clarified character stakes. We even touch on the film’s strange cultural afterlife, from reincarnation readings to moral perfection takes, and why the dramedy label fits better than pure comedy.

By the end, we land on a simple truth: Groundhog Day endures because it makes self-improvement entertaining without sanding off the edges. It’s not about cracking the code of the loop; it’s about practicing grace until it sticks. If that resonates, hit play, follow the show, and leave a five-star rating to help more film lovers find us. Then tell us: what scene changed the movie for you?

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Joe:

Joe, do you ever get deja vu? I don't know. I can go check in the kitchen.

Dylan:

Welcome to Have You Seen the Movie Podcast, where every movie is a premiere.

Joe:

This week we're talking about a movie that starts as a goofy comedy and slowly turns into something much deeper. And while I've revisited relived Groundhog Day many times, Dylan is waking up in Pexitani for the very first time. Same day, same jokes, wildly different reactions.

Dylan:

This week's movie, Groundhog Day, came out in 1993 and is rated PG for mild language, thematic elements, and some darkly comedic moments. But cold weather. And vehicle explosions.

unknown:

Yeah.

Dylan:

I have to laugh that it came out in the 90s. Yeah. Because everything just looks like it. You know what I'm saying?

Joe:

Yeah. Um there's like a like a color tone to it. And the uh right. Like the the would you call that like a color grade? Yeah, color grade, color tone.

Dylan:

But like the kind of the the coloring of everything, yeah, and like even like in the in the B and B is like the wallpaper. Oh yeah.

Joe:

I'm like, oh has that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And that stuff is like pre-90s, but it would still be newer. Still here, right? Yeah, and the styles and the hair days.

Dylan:

Yeah. And then you had to point this out while we were watching it. But the director was that. So there I go, pointing things out. How dare. But the director actually makes a little cameo in the film. Yeah. As uh as a doctor, Mr. Harold Romez. Ramis? Yeah. Ramen. Top Ramen.

Joe:

Top Ramen.

Dylan:

Harold Ramen.

Joe:

His hair looked like ramen. A little bit. Yeah. He was uh Egon in the Ghostbusters. Yeah. And so it's like a re-teeming. Yep.

Dylan:

You're like, you're like, now Dylan, who is that? And I'm like, uh, the doctor? Yeah, the doctor. I was like, I I recognize the voice.

Joe:

Yeah, yeah. Dr. Egon Spangler. Yeah, it wouldn't it be cool if there was a tie-in to where like Peter Venckman was going through Groundhog Day?

Dylan:

That would be funny. Yeah. For how much it's a comedy, it also just gets like really deep and like existential about it. Right. Yeah. Does the does it actually explain itself like in why the time loop is happening? No. It doesn't really. Okay. Because I'm like, I was like sitting there watching it and I'm like, am I missing something? Yeah.

Joe:

And spoiler, end scene. That's it. Like, um, I you know, I guess my my theory when when watching it is just like like a groundhog. They, you know, come out, they see their shadow, and depending on that, or don't see their shadow, and depending on that. And so it's almost like he had to figure out how to live like this perfect life, or this perfect um this perfect day. Like live live that day perfectly in order to get the girl. But never but never given expectations and not even to get the girl though, because ultimately it's changing his attitude, changing his view on people and himself and humanity.

Dylan:

So he definitely went through and had a very selfless day about it.

Joe:

Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Dylan:

So for for a quick plot setup, a cynical weatherman gets stuck reliving the same day over and over and over and over and over and over and over. And over. What's the next word? Oh, and over. And over. Kind of for my expectations going into it, I usually try to not see trailers for things like that we watch. Yeah. Just because I feel like with modern cinema, so much gets spoiled in the trailer. Yeah. You're like, well, great, I don't have to go watch the movie because that was the big twist. Yeah, right. So I just I try to make it a point of like if it's a movie I want to see, I avoid trailers for it.

Joe:

Yeah. Yeah, I think that part of it, the spoiler part of it, has become a newer thing. Yeah. I think people doing trailers these days are just oblivious to what the point of a trailer is anymore. And it's to entice the watcher to come and watch the film and not give away the ending because you want to go for the twist as opposed to like, oh, that's I don't know, whatever.

Dylan:

Because then you're almost just sitting there waiting for it.

Joe:

Right. Yeah. When does this part come up? Right. And like it's you know, today these days they throw in like Marvel with either erase characters or not show something or add something later, you know, like um, which is okay, but if you're a good storyteller, then do a good trailer and you don't have to do all that, you know. Right. Like anywho.

Dylan:

So yeah, uh just my expectation going into it was just like I, you know, I tried to keep a very open mind, blank slate, however you want to phrase it. Yeah, but man, it gets like comedically dark kind of right there in the middle. Yeah, it does. And like it's it's funny watching kind of the moment that he snaps because he's like, Oh, I don't have to live by socialed of norms.

Joe:

Yeah. Yeah, and they they basically held back how dark you could get with that. Yeah, you know, right because of you know, like in the writing, they they they were aware of how dark you could get, you know, and they were just like, no, we're not gonna go that far with him, you know. Like he's gonna because essentially, like, you can see him trying at least three different relationships, right? Right. There's like first there's Nancy and then there's the blonde girl, then he ends up at the theater, right? You know, and then finally he he ends up with um his producer.

Dylan:

Yeah. Um, the they did a good job with the the comedy melting in kind of the emotion of it because going through the premise of everything, or you know, re having to relive everything like that, you would get really emotional about it. Yeah, like you know, nothing nothing that you do matters to change anything. When it started going back and reliving days over, yeah, the first couple of days that he relived, uh-huh, I was like, this just feels really repetitive now. Oh, like and I'm like, right, yeah, uh not in the way that they're wanting it to, like in a kind of a boring way. And I'm like, oh man, is the whole movie gonna be this way? And then he started off on his like shenanigans and stuff. And I was like, I was like, oh now it's getting you know getting good. I don't know what else you'd yeah, but like I was like, ooh, this is feels repetitive.

Joe:

Uh-huh. Oh, never mind. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, because they had to find a way to solidify like how um how they were gonna establish that he was going through this over and over. Right. In the original script, um, apparently they dropped in the like midway. And so Oh really? Yeah, and there was like a voiceover.

Dylan:

That would be hard to explain that.

Joe:

Yeah, yeah. There was like a voiceover to kind of explain it, but just seemed to feel weird. Yeah, yeah. Like I've been in the time for this many years, and I'm still going through, you know, something like that. And and it's like um, and so and also when they were writing it, the uh they were I guess the main writer was thinking that he had been doing this for thousands of years, but yeah, but but they kind of changed it so it made it more like he just went through it for 10 years, but still like like ten years of the same thing, right? You know, so it took him that long to get to wherever he needed to be, which I you know I didn't really see like a a real like pattern of this is what he needed to do, you know. Like there was no rhyme or reason to other than just being changed as a person.

Dylan:

So well, and I I felt like he was able to change enough that he was actually be able to finally get Rita. I don't know how she would have word that, right? But you know, that with the way that it it ended, it felt like that was kind of the universe's goal, uh-huh, if you will. Yeah. That that he needs to become a selfless individual because starting off, he was very self-centered, yeah, man. He would have punched him several times.

Joe:

Yeah, it's like if he was gonna be with Rita, he had to be the person she wanted, like naturally and not forced and all that.

Dylan:

Because every time he tried to go out with Rita and he rehearsed, yeah, you know, and he's like, Oh, you know, well, I got I got this, I have to, you know, do it this exact way. And it even showed like her reaction to that, yeah, you know, where she picked up on him like super forcibly doing stuff a certain way. Yeah. Um, the scene that sticks to me is when they're like throwing the snowballs with the kids, yeah, and he's like just off his rocker about it.

Joe:

Yeah, yeah.

Dylan:

And he's like, Are you gonna move up for adoption? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Joe:

Oh, that's creepy. Yeah, he's like, Hey, a bunch of kids are throwing snowballs. Right. Are you guys up for adoption?

Dylan:

Yeah, and then like, you know, she she falls down like every other time. Yeah, and then he goes, you know, rolls beside her or whatever, yeah. And then like he just starts like you know, using his elbows and scooching towards her. Yeah, yeah. And she's like yeah, backing off. She's like, what is happening?

Joe:

Yeah. Yeah, it's like he's trying to get back to where he was the first time where it worked, and then it's like not working again. Right, yeah.

Dylan:

Yeah. But um, you know, Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, yeah. And he's definitely able to use kind of his ability to really portray that character. Yeah. I've seen him in a couple things now, and it's not like it's the same person doing different things. Yeah, it's he really is able to just kind of imbide that character. Uh-huh. And so, like, you know, at the at the beginning of it, like he really is a jerk.

Joe:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, he he he is pretty close to Peter Venckman, you know, at parts. And so he has that like, you know, ladies man uh kind of style about him. Right, you know. Uh but he thinks he thinks, he thinks, yeah, yeah. And so automatically he kind of goes for the girl or whatever, and it's like no. Right.

Dylan:

Um but yeah, you the first time you see Rita Um played by Andy McDowell, it's so funny because she's she's like wearing the the blue on the blue screen, so then all you see is like their floating heads in here. Yeah, in her hand and she's playing on the screen.

Joe:

Right. That's so hilarious. Yeah, you you see kind of her like cuteness and like character, and you know, she she is she does have an innocence about her, you know. She she has enough wit though to be skeptical. Right, right. So the uh I guess you would say like cameraman is played by the supporting role. Supporting role cameraman is uh played by Chris Elliott, and he actually has had like TV shows, and um, I guess they had seen him on like Letterman because he's a stand-up comic. Yeah, and they this was like his first thing. Oh really? Yeah. So they were like, let's throw him in, you know, and he's just such a like, I don't know, kind of like a sarcastic kind of you know, like spoiler, but spoiler alert for a movie that's 23 years old when Phil actually dies for the day, and he's like, you know, kind of like uh consoling Rita, and he's like, he was such a nice guy, but the whole time he's like a jerk to him and stuff. Right, right. That was funny. Yeah, yeah. There was little things like that where it's like you could even see that Phil eventually won him over, too, you know, because he was he was the most skeptical, like calling him a diva or or saying like uh oh oh Primadonna and all that. Right, right. Did he just call himself the talent? Yeah, and then uh Steven uh I think it's Tobolowski, um, playing Ned. Uh Ned Ryerson. Apparently, he just he just decided to just go all out on that role, and like when he auditioned, he just kind of did everything he thought this character would do, and they loved it.

Dylan:

Yeah, it was great.

Joe:

Yeah, yeah.

Dylan:

You remember me? No. It is so funny. Like the I think the funniest interaction between Ned and Phil was when when Ned like walks up to Phil and he just decks him. Oh, yeah, he just knocks him flat.

Joe:

See, that was that was my favorite until watching it again. And then the part where he just goes up to him, Ned, I haven't seen you in forever. Starts like hanging off of him, hanging on him and hugging him close, and Ned's like trying to pull out. He goes, he's like, I don't know what you're doing today, but you could can you call out Sick? He's like, uh, I gotta go. And he runs away. I think, yeah, those are the two, like just the decking of me.

Dylan:

He's just like Ned Ryers then? Yeah, yep. And then of course, Ned's iconic line watch that first step. It's a doozy. I couldn't even leave your house last night without you saying that. Yeah.

Joe:

Yeah. It'd be funnier if there was snow out there to watch out for, but there's nothing right now. Right. Um, so then uh Buster, the mayor, who who like chokes and you know. Oh, that's the mayor. Yeah, that's the mayor. I totally missed that. That was my assumption. I I thought that I thought he was the mayor. I was pretty sure he was the mayor. I totally missed that. But uh yeah, uh, that's actually Bill Murray's brother. And they've been in a lot of other things together, but yeah, he it's so hilarious because like um, you know, the day that he becomes popular with everybody and he saves his life, and right his wife kisses him on the lips. It's great, and then the air the uh Airbnb? Is that Airbnb? The B and B lady, the bed and breakfast lady, the bed and breakfast lady who just gets kissed in the morning from him, right?

Dylan:

Man, I was impressed too, because he just goes for it. Yeah, and she's just like you know, like I mean, to be fair, I'd have this same reaction. Yeah, like what are you doing? Get off of me.

Joe:

Yeah, yeah. I think she was cool there, though. It seemed like it.

Dylan:

Yeah, I think uh yeah. Moving right along, yeah, moving right along, debate on that for a while. I think Phil's whole transformation arc though is so well written that it's not super obvious at first, and then as the days keep repeating, it shows how each day he like just changed a little bit. I feel like it's it did an excellent job in showing that he was a changed man. Yeah, yeah. Not just telling you oh, and he will you know lived his life for the better, yeah, and thus he was changed forever. And that's the end. Yeah. But yeah, it actually uh went on to show that.

Joe:

So the writers reference um they referenced it's Elizabeth Kubler Ross, um the five stages of death and dying. Okay, and so he goes through denial, anger, uh-huh, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Yeah, and so that was kind of an outline for how he, you know, how everything went. And it's just perfect. Like, yeah, it's like when you uh my wife was uh saying, man, you know, it's saying kind of the same thing, like wow, there's just a clear thing, and I'm like, I was like, yeah, because they you know that they had this as a reference, it was like a guideline of like how you know, death and dying and you know, all that kind of stuff, and yeah, and just like finally, you know, whenever after 10 years, he finally just accepts, okay, if I'm gonna live this life, I'm gonna try to make the best of it.

Dylan:

Right, you know, yeah, save as many people as he can.

Joe:

Yeah, yeah. So the soundtrack isn't much. I mean, there's a lot of like light whimsical tone in it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um as portrayed by a high school marching band.

Joe:

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, you have your polka, you have your Sunny and Share in the morning. Uh, and the first track that opens up that kind of like light whimsical stuff, um, they said it was an attempt at a Nino Rotha style of music, which we just covered Godfather. Nino Rotha was the composer. So if you really listen, it does have that kind of you know, that feel to it.

Dylan:

Yeah.

Joe:

And so the the composer was trying to go for that uh that style. Very cool. I guess at a certain point in life, so I got you, babe, by Sonny and Cher. Cher said that people would go up to her and thank her for writing the song from Groundhog Day. So people didn't realize that it came out in the 60s. Man, that's funny. Yeah. Yeah, and it's hilarious just how um Harold Ramis said that even the polka music got a little stale after we're you know, you're filming over and over the same scenes, whether it's I got you babe or whatever. Um, and you know, just living life. I've probably listened to I've got you babe so many times, but but uh just how yeah, it's like hard to keep going because it's like yeah. And you know, from what we see is you know, I haven't seen any released deleted scenes yet, but um, you know, there's plenty of other scenes that were there that took place that they didn't include and you know, and all that.

Dylan:

So it's like, man, I could imagine having to record all of the stuff that then got cut, and you're like, I did that 18 times. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Right. 'Cause you have things that get cut, you know, in a reg in a regular movie that you have to do multiple times. Right. And then this you're practically doing the same thing for even more multiples of times. Yeah. But yeah, the it was cool like throughout the movie how the background track kind of reinforces the repetition, but then also the growth of it, how it does slowly change. You know, it's the same thing, but it still kind of changes.

Joe:

Yeah, the song You Don't See Me, um, it kind of goes from a version with the lyrics to a version with just music in the back.

Dylan:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Joe:

Yeah.

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Dylan:

Welcome to Have You Seen the Movie Podcast, where every movie is a premiere.

Joe:

This week we're talking about a movie that starts as a goofy comedy and slowly turns into something much deeper.

Dylan:

And while I've revisited So the director, Harold Ramos. Not Ramen. Yeah. That would be so hard to keep all of your storytelling in line. Yeah. Because it's like you're, you know, as an editor or something, you're like sitting there, you know, editing your your footage, and you're like, wait, is this this part or is this back here?

Joe:

Yeah, yeah. And that's why that's why um you you have people on set to keep track of that stuff. Oh yeah, oh yeah. There's people for dialogue, there's people for scenes. Right. You mark everything, time everything. Uh boop boop. Yeah.

Dylan:

Something that was funny too is all of like kind of the small town things. Like all of the people working in the diner. Yeah. You know, that have these big aspirations outside of town or whatever. And I'm like, especially growing up in a small town. Uh-huh. I was like, I was like, yep, that's that person. That's that person. Yeah.

Joe:

Yeah. Well, I've lived in a small town for what I consider a small town for almost 17 years now. So I get it.

Dylan:

What you consider a small town. Yeah.

Joe:

Yeah. I got a small diner down the street that I go to just because it's one of the last best places in in uh where we live.

Dylan:

In that one town where we live.

Joe:

Yeah, where we Yellowstone.

Dylan:

They did a good job too of the creating the repetition and not having it be the exact same thing. Yeah. You know, it it wasn't boring. True for the first view. Right. Yeah. It wasn't boring. Like it always kept it interesting because you knew you're like, okay, what about this is going to be different.

Joe:

Yeah, once you caught on, it was like which I didn't it didn't bore me at the beginning. Um but but yeah, once you caught on, like the third time, um when he catches on, he like takes off, leaves, doesn't ask, you know, the the lady what you know what's going on. Right. She doesn't stop, he keeps going. Um you know, he heads straight to the town, you know, town center where everything's going on. Like there's not all these little things going on and pushes Ned out of the way. Like, you know. And so then it starts to get interesting and build momentum of yeah, you know, right. Yeah, and the small town stuff is is kind of funny because like you see everybody uh you know enjoying and uh uh Rita talks about how people were like camping out and you know all that kind of small town stuff that you do.

Dylan:

Right. So I know before we kind of went over our favorite scenes, but aside from Ned getting knocked flat, what other favorite scenes do you have?

Joe:

So one of my favorites is well, when they show the groundhog, I think the groundhog's so cute. Like at one point when they're lifting him up, he looks like he's just smiling. He looks like he's whiter than he is tall. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He just very furry dude. And then like uh I just love when when uh he you know uh Phil's pretending that he's driving when he gets kidnapped. And yeah, yeah. Phil pretends Phil's driving and kidnaps Phil.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, which which Phil?

Joe:

Yeah. Um they're both groundhogs. Uh but uh yeah, when when they're in the truck and he's in the truck. You're gonna say when Phil's in the truck. When Phil Z is in the truck.

Dylan:

When what is when the Phil's die, is in the truck. Exactly. That's what I was looking for.

Joe:

Uh and when the Philz is is in the truck, yes, it is. But he he has his um the the groundhog has his hands on the steering wheel as well. And the other Phil is going, look to the left, look to the right, check your mirrors, you know. And and the groundhog's just like it just looks so cute. But the funny part about that too is that um filming that scene and just filming in general took so long that it agitated the groundhog. Yeah, and so just before they cut for that scene, or just after they cut from that scene, uh, he he bit Bill Murray through through his leather gloves. Oh man. And Bill Murray got bit twice and had to go for rabies vaccinations. Oh man. Just in case, like right. I guess they had a guy who bred uh groundhogs just for this movie. Uh really, yeah, wow, just crazy. Um, but yeah, I just see him, this little groundhog guy. It's one of my favorites.

Dylan:

Yeah, I think one of mine is when Phil plays the piano. Like, I love that it sets it up of him going to the you know, piano teacher's house, yeah, and then he's like, I'll give you a thousand dollars. Kicks the little girl out.

Joe:

Oh yeah, and she kind of stumbles out of the door like they kick literally kicked her out. Right.

Dylan:

So yeah, kicks look kicks the little girl out, and you know, a couple of cycles into it, the piano teacher's like, Are you sure this is your first first time? Yeah, or your first practice. Yeah, he's like, Well, my grandfather used to move pianos, yeah, yeah, right, right, right. Like, yes, that's how you pick it up naturally, right?

Joe:

Right. Yeah, and my my wife picked up on that because her dad and her uh both tune pianos, yeah, and so it's like, oh yeah, you learn you learn how to play even though you might not, you know. Right.

Dylan:

Just by being around it. Yeah. When he was spiraling, you know, the the dark the dark humor sequences were funny. Um when when the Philzes were crashing in the truck off of the cliff. He's like, uh uh, what's the guy's name? The piano guy, or not piano guy, the camera guy. Oh, the camera. Um yeah, but yeah, he's like, oh, I'm sure he'll walk away from that. Kaboo! Big old big old fiery explosion.

Joe:

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. Yeah, yeah. I don't think so.

Dylan:

Or um just when Phil is like helping the town people and he's like got it all down timed out, yeah, and he's like, I have errands to run, yeah, and then just systematically goes right on.

Joe:

He catches the kid. What do you say?

Dylan:

What do you say?

Joe:

He never says thank you.

Dylan:

Right. When he's in, kind of before all that, when he's gives the the old man beggar, you know, the money, yeah, and then he he ends up going to the hospital where the beggar passes away. And then she's like, Well, people just naturally die. Yeah. And he's like, No, like not today, like, right? Um, and then just goes on to do everything he can to prevent that from happening. Like, that's really where the switch and uh character really shows.

Joe:

Yeah. So one of my favorite scenes came from a story, and there's a um there's an actor named Paul Lind, and he was in like Goodbye Birdie, he was in um what is The Witch. Um he was he was like a 60s comedian, right? Um oh um let's see. Oh, he was in Charlotte's Webb, a voice in Charlotte's Webb. Um, but anyway, he was uh he he was driving around in San Francisco uh and he was drunk and went on a high speed chase, and he crashed into a mailbox, and the police came guns drawn. Yeah and he said, I'll have a cheeseburger, hold the onions, and a large sprites. Oh man, yeah, and if you know him as an actor, he has yeah, he he the delivery would have I I would have laughed as a cop because he would say it. So that that scene they put in reference that that's great. It's like yeah, for that to actually happen in real life, it's hilarious. And I got the feeling too that when they're driving on the train tracks, that that wasn't the first time it happened. Yeah, you know, you start to feel like okay, maybe this has happened before.

Dylan:

Well, it's when they're when they're I'm I'm like laughing about it, thinking just thinking about it. Yeah, but like when they're going on the train tracks, and like you know, you always think that the car is going to like ride on the rail, right? So it's gonna be smooth, yeah. But then like, you know, obviously it's not going to be just driving over the rubber ties, yeah, and it's all bumping, and they're like they always say not to drive on the railroad tracks.

Joe:

I happen to agree with that one, right? That just sounds uncomfortable, yeah. So, yeah, the script originally explained the time loop, and kind of like I said, they dropped they dropped them in the middle, but Remus changed it. Um, and there was a lot more I guess the the writer originally intended it to be more of a like romantic kind of movie where it it seems more like he's going after go like like the whole purpose was to be with Rita, and then they re they rechanged it so that it was more of a comedy and it was more nebulous, I guess.

Dylan:

Yeah, because I feel like by the ending of the movie, like you definitely get that vibe, get that feeling.

Joe:

Uh-huh. So it kind of does that, but in a different way than was intended.

Dylan:

Yeah.

Joe:

So the one of the ways that was that Harold Ramis would direct Bill Murray, uh, well, he would try to direct Bill Murray and tell him you know what to do, and yeah, they kind of this movie kind of created what became a falling out for them. Like they just Oh really? Yeah. And and so he would cut them off and just say, just tell me good Phil or Bad Phil, you know? Really? Yeah, yeah. So it was just you're doing that.

SPEAKER_01:

Good Joe, bad Joe. Yeah, yeah. That's wow, that's really weird.

Joe:

Right, yeah. And they had done so many collaborations with each other, and this one just somehow just ended up. Just because Ramis was directing or not sure. It just yeah, they just clashed and interesting. Yeah. And they didn't it wasn't until like a little before Harold Ramis passed that they actually patched things up. Is that long? Really? Yeah. Wow. So that created kind of a thing. But one of the cool things or funny things is that um the there's a song called The Weatherman uh in the movie. Yeah. And that was written specifically for the movie. Oh, really? And uh, and so uh Harold Ramus helped write it, and so now he he gets residual income from you know the the writing of of that song. Right. So it's like he he had to join Ascap and all this other stuff because because of that. Wow.

Dylan:

That's but that's a lot of work just for writing a song, yeah. For writing one song, yeah.

Joe:

But hey, you know, 40 cents here, 40 cents there. That's true.

SPEAKER_01:

It adds up.

Joe:

Yeah, and now streaming that would be 0.04 cents.

Dylan:

Right. How was this movie when it first came out? Was it as uh successful? I think it was take a little bit.

Joe:

I think it was, yeah. Um yeah, I I seem to remember it being pretty well known. Yeah, I don't think I went and saw it at the time, um, but yeah, it was pretty well known. Um I guess I guess they did a reshoot because the actual um when the audience kind of seen it initially, like the test audience, um, they didn't know who these people were. So like you didn't know who Rita was, you didn't know who Phil was, right? And and how everything, how did they end up there? So the whole beginning part of the movie was a reshoot to establish who they were, who he was, why they're going over there, yeah, and you know, right, because without that, I you're definitely just getting dropped into the middle of that. Yeah.

Dylan:

And like you wouldn't be able to pick up on that.

Joe:

Yeah, have no idea like who this person was or why they acted that way, or yeah.

Dylan:

Yeah, because it's kind of the whole thing of like you know, when in like a movie or something, it's like the whole big thing of don't just tell me you know they're a good person, show me they're a good person.

Joe:

Uh-huh.

Dylan:

And that like that leans so much on that.

Joe:

Yeah. One of the cool things that they kept showing that I just had to look up because I was like, this looks is kind of like in Men in Black when they had um the props and they would do zoom ins on the props. There were actually like these huge, like six foot, you know. Yeah, so yeah. When they show the clock zoomed in, it's like a huge like six or they build the I was like, that looks it looks like a different clock, you know? Yeah, and it's it doesn't look as it just didn't look the same to me. That's funny, yeah. So, you know, that they would show and it was like ominous, and you know that you get a good gust of wind off of it, right?

Dylan:

Yeah, so so good. But that's great. I'd never I didn't even think about that.

Joe:

Yeah, it's like movies like this, you don't really like think about effects or anything, right?

Dylan:

Because nowadays I can just take my you know camera and shove it right up close to something and yeah, you know, be oh good, that's a great shot, let's keep going. Yeah, but yeah, there they have to like actually go around figuring out how to show that because they're like, Well, yeah, you won't be able to see this on screen.

Joe:

Yeah, yeah. So as far as people like feedback from people, it was interesting because Harold Ramis said that there was different religious groups kind of tried to claim the movie for their own. Oh what? Yeah, because of the whole like reincarnation kind of theme underlying the whole thing. Like, there were some people who like there was uh one group outside of theater saying uh kind of proselytizing and saying, like, you know, are you living the same day, you know, every day and stuff like that? And then there was other people who believed in reincarnation that said, like, oh, this is exactly what it's supposed to be like, and you know, you need to live live your life perfectly, and just all these things, like and he was like, I had no idea that that would tap into these different right, yeah, right. Yeah, it's like that's totally not, but okay, yeah, right.

Dylan:

Hey, so that's not a correlation you should be making, yeah.

Joe:

Yeah, it's like I'm I'm all good for morals and all that stuff, but it's that's an interesting take, you know.

Dylan:

Yeah, that's really weird. Out of ten alarmed clocks, what would you rate this movie?

Joe:

I'm gonna go six point five.

Dylan:

Six and a smash clock.

Joe:

Yeah, exactly. I'm gonna go six and a smash clock.

Dylan:

Yeah, I was thinking of seven. Yeah, it's a good movie. I would definitely I would definitely watch it again. Um I feel like the whole premise of it and like re-watching it and just seeing what else you can like pull out of it, yeah, would be would be super interesting. Would you classify this as a comedy or would you say that it's something deeper? Because I know we kind of talked before that it kind of teeters that edge.

Joe:

Yeah. It's a dramedy. A drama deep. Okay, yeah. Um, I'd I'd say it's I think it's I think the way it's um promoted and and all that, that it's a comedy. Yeah. Yeah. I think like it just there's a difference between that and other movies that kind of have more of a um, you know, serious uh bent towards it that you can define it as that, or I'm like, uh, it's a comedy. Yeah. You know, it's a drama comedy. A dramedy. Dramedy. I go with dramedy. Yeah. So finally, next week we will be covering La Bamba, the story of Richie Vellens, which is a very heartfelt uh going back to LA for me.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. Very close to the heart. Yes. Are you going to cry?

Joe:

I might. I've been known to for this movie.

Dylan:

Thanks for listening to Have You Seen the Movie Podcast. Make sure to follow the show on your favorite podcast app. And if you're enjoying it, leave us a five-star rating. It really helps the show grow.

Joe:

And we want to hear from you. Text us your name and a movie suggestion using the link in the description. If you're David Podley, you can just text me directly. You can follow all our socials in the description as well. Everything you need is right there. We'll be back next week with another movie premiere.

Dylan:

Well, we'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you tomorrow.

Joe:

We'll see you tomorrow.

Dylan:

We'll see you tomorrow.

Joe:

That tomorrow is a doozy.

Dylan:

This is a Roll Credit Studio production.