Caddyshack (1980) Orion Pictures/Comedy RT: 98 minutes Rated R (language, crude humor, nudity, sexual content, drug use) Director: Harold Ramis Screenplay: Douglas Kenney, Harold Ramis and Brian Doyle-Murray Music: Johnny Mandel Cinematography: Stevan Larner Release date: July 25, 1980 (US) Cast: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Bill Murray, Michael O’Keefe, Cindy Morgan, Sarah Holcomb, Brian Doyle-Murray, Scott Colomby, Dan Resin, Henry Wilcoxon, Albert Salmi, Elaine Aiken, John F. Barmon Jr., Lois Kibbee. Box Office: $39.8M (US)
Rating: ***
Go ahead and accuse me of blasphemy if it makes you feel any better, but I don’t hold the “snobs vs. slobs” comedy Caddyshack as sacred as the rest of the free world. I like the movie, but I don’t love it. It’s entertaining, but I don’t find it as consistently funny as the other two members of the “Holy Trinity of Comedy” (Animal House and The Blues Brothers). Simply put, some of it works and some of it doesn’t. I suppose that’s par for the course for any movie comedy, but I expected much more from Caddyshack, especially after listening to my peers rave about it for years.
No surprise, Caddyshack is one of the countless R-rated movies that fell victim to the same unconstitutional parental block that many of us faced in our younger years. I watched it a couple of times on regular TV before finally seeing the uncut version in December ’84 (one of my first video rentals). I thought it was amusing, even hilarious at times, but not as great as everybody claimed.
It’s difficult to say exactly what’s wrong with Caddyshack other than that it’s somewhat uneven. I generally like Bill Murray and he has a few funny scenes here and there, but it’s like he’s making a completely different movie from the rest of the cast. His character, groundskeeper Carl Spackler, acts like he’s from another planet. The scenes involving this character feel very much out of step from the rest of the movie. Yes, that’s the idea, I get it. Still, I still find all of it rather weird. It borders on surreal. There are a few other things about Caddyshack that don’t work, but this will do for now.
Danny Noonan (O’Keefe, The Great Santini) works as a caddy at Bushwood (snicker, snicker!) Country Club in order to raise money for college. He mostly caddies for rich playboy Ty Webb (Chase, National Lampoon’s Vacation), an exceptional golfer who makes for a very questionable mentor. Danny gets a second shot at a coveted scholarship after the original recipient dies. This means he has to kiss some serious ass and that ass belongs to uptight Judge Smails (Knight, The Mary Tyler Moore Show), director and co-founder of the Caddy Scholarship Program.
Danny gains favor with the judge after claiming responsibility for an incident that leaves another member injured and Smails on the warpath against nouveau riche Al Czervik (Dangerfield, Easy Money), a loud and obnoxious sort who apparently is on a mission to drive the judge crazy with his shenanigans. Danny tries to impress the judge so that he will offer him the scholarship. He certainly doesn’t help his cause by succumbing to the sexual advances of the judge’s slutty niece Lacey (Morgan, TRON). His life is further complicated by his steady girlfriend Maggie (Holcomb, Animal House) informing him that she may be pregnant with his child.
Meanwhile, groundskeeper Carl declares war on a gopher that’s been tearing up the golf course. He’s been ordered to get rid of the pesky little rodent, but it’s a task that proves easier said than done. The gopher bests goofy Carl at every turn.
Caddyshack predictably comes down a big golf match for a great deal of money. It’s Smails and a doctor friend against Czervik and Webb. It goes without saying Danny must eventually decide between the scholarship or being true to himself.
Let me start by saying that every scene involving Dangerfield is hilarious! He’s like a cross between Don Rickles and the Tasmanian Devil in the way he buffalos onto the scene with a few handy insults for those most deserving. Upon meeting Mrs. Smails (Kibbee, The Edge of Night), he remarks “You must’ve been something before electricity.” He’s the kind of guy whose golf bag has a built-in radio in case the urge to dance strikes him. Knight is also quite good as nasty Judge Smails, both a snob and a racist who openly refers to African-Americans as “colored”. Really? In 1980?
Chase is in smooth operator mode here with the off-hand insincerity of his character (“Thank you very little.”). Don’t get me wrong about Murray, he’s funny in Caddyshack. It’s just that some of his scenes don’t work. There’s a bit where Chase visits Murray in his shack that serves no real purpose. The bit about the pregnancy scare is also unnecessary, but at least it’s mercifully brief as the situation is resolved only moments later. Holcomb is quite good in the movie, sporting an authentic-sounding Irish brogue. She pretty much disappeared from the Hollywood scene after this movie due to issues with drugs, alcohol and mental illness. Reportedly, she suffers from schizophrenia and has no desire to return to acting. Too bad, she has both talent and charm.
As for Caddyshack, it’s funny without being particularly great. It’s full of quotable lines, but I find that I use one of Smails’ the most. That would be “Well, we’re waiting!” spoken by the impatient judge during the climactic golf game. It’s a line for any long-wait situation. I find the opening scene at the Noonan house quite annoying with that pushy father and all those kids running around. It really comes to life when Dangerfield is on the scene. What chemistry he has with Knight.
SCTV funnyman Harold Ramis, in his directorial debut, obviously knows his way around a comedy. Caddyshack is a respectable first effort. I still roar at the infamous Baby Ruth scene. It’s so gross and so wrong, but so funny. The movie is a little rough around the edges and definitely uneven, but still makes for a sufficiently amusing summertime slob comedy.
