Continuing on with our exploration of narratives that use time as a device, we discuss three movies which take place in time loops, where the characters wake up and relive the same 24 hours over and over: Groundhog Day, Map of Tiny Perfect Things, and Palm Springs.This episode is slightly super-sized, because apparently we had a lot to say about this narrative conceit.
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One thing I appreciated about Palm Springs was the clever way it took advantage of the audience’s inevitable comparison to, and familiarity with, OG Groundhog Day, for narrative benefit. Sara pulled up the movie, knowing more about it than me, saying basically only that it was in the realm of OGGD. So I went in mostly cold, but 10 minutes in when Samberg dances through the crowded wedding reception perfectly anticipating every obstacle I said aloud, “Oh, I get it.” I thought that was a very smart way to shorthand tons of exposition and story development– by showing us that at the beginning of this movie he’s already where Bill Murray arrived deep in OGGD. And that makes for a unique take on the premise.
Also I loved the bit where they burst into the biker bar wearing matching outfits, do a choreographed dance routine, flip everyone off, then peace out. Because why TF not.