Caddyshack (1980)

Simply Perfect

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Originally an ANIMAL HOUSE of golf, directed by its co-writer, Harold Ramis, CADDYSHACK morphed into an eclectic comedy starring four comic actors that - had the rudimentary vision sustained - probably would have been random guest appearances amid the shack-dwelling youngsters... Although a 'teen' is still the main character - the straight-man pawn, Michael O'Keefe as Danny Noonan, with one of the best natural golf swings recorded on film (most actors have horrible swings even when playing pros). After an opening credit bicycle ride from a crowded and noisy, low class home, he passes a strip of mansions to classy Bushwood Country Club backed by Kenny Loggins' smooth party anthem I'm Alright: bridging a grainy late-70's yacht rock groove into the preppy vs anti-preppy decade to come...Then Danny winds in and out of misadventures including an attempt to appeal to Ted Knight's stuffy Judge Smails for a possible college scholarship while faithfully caddying his mentor in Chevy Chase's quirky millionaire Ty Webb, sharing the most subtle yet hilarious moments in-between butting heads with cool cat Italian bully Scott Colomby, the other "kid" whose role wasn't diminished to a cameo. The R-Rating is earned between our caddy and one of the hottest of underrated and underused starlets, Cindy Morgan, far more beautiful and interesting than Laurie Metcalf as Danny's knocked-up girlfriend (using a bad accent of some kind), whose bland romantic melodrama should've been left on the cutting room floor...Meanwhile, Bill Murray, despite the overall popularity of his character, isn't at his best here, chasing a stuffed gopher that, getting around cooler and funnier than CGI, seems a nod to b-movies that can't afford any better... With his bottom lip hanging to pilot a contrived manner of speech, in place of his MEATBALLS (and future STRIPES and GHOSTBUSTERS) glib confidence, Murray's assistant groundskeeper, Carl, seeming part of an SNL skit stretched too long. Leaving ultimate fan-favorite Rodney Dangerfield as a condo developer who insults anyone within verbal/audible reach - the epitome of a scene-stealer... While we see Bushwood through the vulnerable young eyes of O'Keefe's Danny Noonan, it's Dangerfield's cocky Al Czervik who provides both the Roman Chorus and an unintentional narration, from start to finish, in a perfectly timed 97-minute ride.

The 1980s saw some okay music, the advent of computers into the home was really taking off, and the science fiction genre (riding off the coat tails of Star Wars) was really making a comeback in feature films.But not everything from the 80s is golden, as I mentioned in some previous reviews. And Caddyshack is one of them.Simply put I don't get this film. I really don't. Bill Murry has a kind of Ahab-like obsession with a rodent chewing up his workplace home turf, and there's some thing about a gold contest and an examination of snobbery. Bill Murry acting like a drugged out gardener is not funny. It simply is not funny. I don't know why people (mostly men) heap praises on it, but it is not funny in the least. Or, rather it could be but you would have had to have shaved off several IQ points from your personal intelligence quotient.And I can't make it any plainer than that.This is one of those few rare occasions where the sequel is funnier, and given that this film is worthy of a smirk or two at best, that's not high praise.If you like idiotic humor, then maybe check out this film, but don't say I didn't warn you.Watch at your peril.

Harold Ramis' 1980 golf comedy about the crazed hilarity of the caddies and members at an upscale country club got rather poor reviews upon release, and was not extremely successful at the box office. Many people were disappointed because it wasn't Animal House (which Ramis co-wrote), as both films had the same vein of humor and several people involved behind the camera. Within a few years though it gained a huge cult following and audiences and even some critics then went on to proclaim it as one of the funniest movies of all time. When I first saw it, I indeed found it to be very, very funny. That was also when I was a pre-teen mind you. Rodney Dangerfield's opening lines and battles with Ted Knight made me laugh out loud, as well as Bill Murray's famous battle with the gopher, and his scene with Chevy Chase smoking pot in his "house." While this is a funny movie, it was rather amazing to discover that many consider this a true comedy classic. Having not seen in it quite some time recently, I wanted to see if it was still the comedy classic I remembered it to be and if I agreed with the majority or if I thought it was more on the over- hyped side. Sad to say but the movie hasn't help up great 37 years later and I am leaning towards the latter side. Now I will admit Dangerfield's opening scenes, some of his other dialogue and screen time with Ted Knight is still very, very funny but looking back on it, that's only in the first half of the movie and towards the end it's a shtick that just gets tiresome and less funny. Knight on his own really doesn't bring the movie any extra momentum. His role seems more recycled from his days as Ted Baxter on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. It seems like the movie thinks it's still funny for others to put down and insult his character in the same way Ted Baxter was put down for being such an egotistical annoying pest, but it was only funny the first time, and Knight doesn't do anything different or special with his role here. Murray, who many people quote his dialogue from this movie to this present day is also really not given any opportunity to do anything special. He has a couple of funny moments with the gopher, but those really bring more of a chuckle than a genuine laugh, and his "Cinderella Story" scene which is put on lists of the all time greatest movie quotes is worthy of a slight chuckle but that's about it. There is nothing special about it to be on the list of the all-time greats. Murray's only laugh out loud moment was when he disinfected the pool and ate the Baby Ruth bar. And then the movie has subplots about caddy scholarships, yacht clubs, out of wedlock pregnancy and none of it seems to really quite blend well enough to do the plot any justice. Chevy Chase has one or two genuinely funny lines, but outside of that his character is really more of an underdeveloped and awkward distraction more than anything else. Michael O'Keefe who was wonderful with Robert Duvall in The Great Santini is wasted and also,sadly, an underdeveloped character. I guess he is supposed to provide support to the main comic stars, but his character is just another missed opportunity which could have made the movie funnier. I wonder if some think this is such a classic because of Dangerfield's funny bits. Were it not for him this movie would have totally sucked and been long forgotten. Because of him I am feeling nice enough to give it a modest 6. He was far better six years later in Back to School which Ramis co-wrote, that script had a far better use of his talent. Murray and Ramis fared better the following year in Stripes which holds up far better than this one does and eventually Groundhog Day over a decade later, and Chase and Ramis fared far better in National Lampoon's Vacation three years later. That's why I can't understand considering that Ramis made much funnier movies with the main stars of this one, why this one is considered the all-time classic, while the others don't come close to having the same status. This was Ramis' directorial debut and Dangerfield's first major movie so it was a good warm-up for them but they made much better movies later on. All in all Caddyshack is vaguely funny, but there is essentially no story, too many distracting, meaningless subplots, some of which are totally irrelevant to the so-called "plot" and only one truly funny main character (Dangerfield's). So while it definitely didn't deserve the poor reviews it got upon original release, it also shouldn't be considered the classic it is nowadays. 37 years later it's mildly amusing with a few funny moments worthy of a couple smiles and one or two genuinely laugh out loud moments. Even Happy Gilmore which some critics described as a Caddyshack wannabe is funnier and I think is more worthy of classic comedy status. So if you want to see if Caddyshack is the classic they say it is or if you want to see if it's held up to that standard 37 years later you will be disappointed. If you're just expecting a few chuckles to kill some time you won't be.

It's understandable this would turn out to be considered a comedy classic if you look at the fact this is one of Bill Murray's firsts, a film featuring an ever-verbose Rodney Dangerfield, a beautiful young Cindy Morgan and the then very popular Chevy Chase, and when you conjugate all that to a Golf field, what with the caddy culture, a youth meaning to have fun by all means...this was all very relevant and culturally very current.But in itself, as a comedy being watched today, we're given a little bit of plot, some pretty funny moments from time to time, but overall something of a predictable, a bit flat, over-the-top and puerile 1980 effort that will go a bit all over the place in various parts.There's some fun to be had, but it's very certainly no masterpiece.