If it seems odd to commemorate the many deaths of a movie character, then you haven't seen "Groundhog Day" recently. Hipster party boy Bill Murray plays the great celebrity weatherman Phil Connors, who begrudgingly visits Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to report live on the town's famous weather-predicting groundhog. The next day, Connors regrettably discovers that it's not the next day...it's Groundhog Day all over again. Then again, again, again and on and on.
Eventually, Connors gets fed up. You would too if you perpetually ran into Ned Ryerson, one of the most annoying characters in cinematic history (of course he's an insurance salesman--bing!). So Connors decides to test his immortality. Among other horrible events that would claim the life of mere mortals, Connors gets stabbed, shot, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted and burned. Those happen offscreen. He suffers four acts of death onscreen that would have killed him if he weren't some kind of immortal or a God as he says. Let's revisit them and gauge their level of immortality.
1. Drives off a cliff in a truck
Immortality meter: There's no f****n' way a mere mortal survives a fall from a cliff. He didn't go headlong into the Grand Canyon, but it wasn't a bunny hill either. I estimate that when Connors ran from police over the cliff, the truck plunged at least 200 feet, where it blasted and went up in flames. Connors woke up the next day without a scratch. I award him 78 Murray immortality points.
2. Electrocutes himself in a bathtub
Immortality meter: According to a reputable source of scientific information, Mythbusters, the danger posed by a toaster in a bathtub is legit and was certified "confirmed" by the show. I'm not sure of the likelihood of survival from this stunt, but it probably falls somewhere between "low" and "that really sucks." I award 44 Murray immortality points.
3. Walks in front of a moving truck
Immortality meter: This one is pretty messy, but another film--"Stranger Than Fiction"-- teaches us that it's possible to survive getting hit by a truck. It happens in real life too, and it's even possible to become a viral video star for getting hit by a truck once it's put to the score from "Inception." Nevertheless, Connor takes a truck traveling at about 30-40 miles per hour face first, and it looks pretty brutal. Connors woke up the next day unscathed. Thirty-seven Murray immortality points.
4. Falls from a building
Immortality meter: Some people actually do survive falls like this. The stories are usually at the top of the New York Post online. Connors plunges from about six to seven stories to his short-lived death, and wakes up the next day as if nothing happened. Incredible, but not unprecedented, worth 44 Murray immortality points.
Here's wishing you a Happy Groundhog Day!