Compare And Contrast Goundhog Essay, Research Paper

Compare and Contrast

Groundhog s Day and The Fall

Steve Perri

George Brown

These two works have a very similar story to them. In Groundhog s Day, Bill Murray s character, Phil is stuck in the same day until he can become truly happy. In The Fall, the main character is suffering from an identity crisis. As we watch and read we find that these two people have a very similar predicament.

In Groundhog s Day Phil tries to find meaning in his life through women. In the first event he learns about a woman named Nancy. On the subsequent day he takes the knowledge that he got from her to get her in bed. It is in this scene of them making out that we learn two things about Phil. The first is he will say and do anything to get a girl in the sack. The second is that we see what he really desires is Rita. This is very similar to the goings on in The Fall. In The Fall we see that the main character will also say anything to get the girl in the sack. However, unlike Phil who could only have a one night stand with any given girl, the main character of The Fall makes the women he fornicates with pledge that they will forever be his.

At the end of Groundhog s Day we see hat Phil has helped just about everybody in the town and has gotten Rita in a respectable way. As quite the contrary the main character of The Fall has not come to the, to coin a Clich And they lived Happily Ever After, point in his life. It seems that he is pleading with Death to come and take him a way or if not death then the police, something to change the monotony. It is very reminiscent of the scenes were Phil kills himself, except in that he, The Fall guy, doesn t actually die.

I personally think that the major difference between the two would have to be the tone of the story and movie as whole. Upon reading The Fall I got this very dark feeling as if it was almost sorrow personified. Where as when I was watching Groundhog s Day I felt sure that everything was going to be all right. These feelings may not be valid though because I am judging two different mediums. Furthermore, I have noticed that books almost always invoke more emotion than movies. But still that is the way I feel about it.