He learns to play the piano and make ice sculptures, he learns a generosity of spirit in helping others, and comes to the humbling realization that there are some things he cannot control when he comes up against the brick wall of the homeless man who dies on Groundhog Day every time, no matter what Phil does. Reaching the understanding illustrated by Aristotle, he begins to cultivate precisely those moral and intellectual virtues. This is the conclusion that Phil finally reaches after all of his mistakes and detours through destructive philosophy.
The plot and the character break down into roughly four phases, leading Phil to his realization that eventually leads him out of the time loop.
While philosophy in a comedy might seem to be an ironic idea, the development of Phil’s character and the structure of the plot are saturated with it and driven by it. The decisive turning points of the plot are philosophical brick walls, where he encounters challenges to his worldview that he cannot overcome, and he then has to adapt in response. The character arc that would be more typical of a serious drama than a comedy somehow works remarkably well in the context of this movie, and the philosophical changes of Phil’s character end up giving the plot most of its structure. Rather, it manages to be comedic while at the same time being almost entirely driven by the character development of the protagonist. One of the most remarkable things about the movie is that it is a comedy where the plot doesn’t revolve around a lot of slapstick or visual gags.
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