Los locos del golf

Yes, this one does hold up, perhaps because the action centers on the almost surreal (for a comedy) subject of golf, a topic that had not perhaps been so successfully spoofed since Eddie Cantor starred in "Kid Boots" (am I getting that one right?).

In the comedy contest between Murray, Chase, and Dangerfield, let me just say that Chase does not win. Dangerfield is at his best, delivering his classic lines ("this meat's so tough you can see where the jockey was riding it") with ultimate panache and actually playing his crazy character (reminiscent of Peter Sellars in "The Party") to the hilt. Murray is really the show-stopper, though, muttering his lines to give them emphasis (?) and racing around the course with what appears to be real mania.

A lot of the jokes fall flat, but when this movie is on, it's so on, that you can't help but call it a classic.

Following the success of "National Lampoon's Animal House" a couple of years earlier Harold Ramis and Doug Kenney struck comedy gold a second time with this classic that once again pitted the slobs against the snobs.

The cast is dynamite. Chevy Chase was at the top of his game as zen golfer Ty Webb, Bill Murray was equally memorable as demented assistant greens-keeper Carl Spackler, the one and only Rodney Dangerfield basically played himself with predictably hilarious results and rounding it out was Ted Knight, who effortlessly oozed smarm.

The storyline is rambling but that doesn't matter much. It's the jokes and the interplay between the actors that fuels the movie. It was no surprise to learn that there was a lot of improvisation going on on the set. The sole scene shared by Chevy Chase & Bill Murray is sheer genius through and through. Still, a more coherent story would have benefited the film.

There is one thing I'm not crazy about, though, and that is the music. 'Songs by Kenny Loggins' doesn't have the same ring today as it did about thirty years ago. That being said, "I'm Alright" isn't bad. I do wish, however, that the filmmakers had gotten Elmer Bernstein to handle the music like he did for "Animal House".

In the end, I give the all-around edge to the precursor, "Animal House", but this one is a worthy successor. Too bad Doug Kenney didn't live to see the end of the year or we might have seen more comedies of this caliber during the '80s.

`National Lampoon's Animal House' may have been one of the first comedies to evolve from the `Saturday Night Live' generation, but it could be argued that `Caddyshack,' directed by Harold Ramis-- and which features two SNL alumni, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray-- actually spawned the entire `SNL genre,' of films, because this is the one that seemed to lock in that formulaic irreverence toward all things, of which they are so indicative. The story here revolves around a young man named Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe), a caddy at the upscale Bushwood Country Club, who is bucking for a caddy scholarship to get him into college. Danny figures that the best shot he has at it is to volunteer for the assignment none of the other caddies want-- to caddy for the up-tight Judge Smails (Ted Knight), one of the executive directors of Bushwood, and `kiss up' a bit. Smails responds by letting Danny mow his lawn and attend a christening ceremony for his new yacht. But Danny is not one to be deterred, even when the good Judge tells him `The world needs ditch diggers, too.' He just goes on, keeping his eyes and his options open.

And it isn't long before Danny gets involved with Ty Webb (Chase), an independently wealthy goof-ball with a Zen/Chaplin philosophy of life, whose father was one of Judge Smails' partners in Bushwood. So Danny takes some advice from Ty while caddying for him; advice which just may ultimately have an effect on whether or not he gets his scholarship. Or maybe not. Words of wisdom like `Be the Ball,' and `A donut with no hole is a danish,' may not be what he needs to put him on the fast track to success. But then again, you never know; it's that kind of movie. And there's no getting around it, this is funny stuff.

The humor in this movie runs the gamut from broad to subtle, with at least two sight gags thrown in that identify it as belonging to the genre it helped create. At the time of it's theatrical release, in 1980, it was fairly on the cutting edge of comedy; by today's standards, though, it doesn't seem nearly as irreverent, especially given the digressive trend in the genre lately, which has spewed forth such fare as `Freddy Got Fingered,' and `Road Trip.' Then again, this one had Harold Ramis behind the camera, and Ramis has an acute sense of comedic timing, he knows what works, and he made the most of the basic screenplay (by Ramis, Brian Doyle-Murray and Douglas Kenney) and the terrific cast of comedians with which he had to work, all of whom fit so well into the pattern and fabric of this particular picture.

Rarely does a comedy (or any film for that matter) have so many actors who fit their characters so perfectly as in this film, beginning with Chevy Chase, who embodies the slightly skewed and off-center Ty Webb so well it's almost frightening. Webb is a guy who veritably floats through life in a perpetual Zen-like state of distraction, and it makes you realize that there probably really are characters like this walking around in the real world. But if the existence of a Ty Webb type is only highly probable, there's no doubt whatsoever about the fact that there are guys like Al Czervik amongst us.

Rodney Dangerfield plays Czervik, the obnoxious, fun-loving, high-rolling land developer with a specially made golf club and an eye on Bushwood. In Czervik, Dangerfield creates a character who is outrageous, droll, lacks any taste whatsoever, and is entirely hilarious. It is, without question, the best character and performance of Dangerfield's cinematic career, and -- like Chase-- it's almost scary the way he fits into the character so naturally and completely.

The real heart of this movie, however, is Bill Murray, who turns in what just may be the definitive Murray performance with his character, Carl Spackler, the Assistant Greenskeeper at Bushwood. Murray brings Carl, the socially and intellectually challenged man-with-a-plan, to life with subtle nuance and a flare of comedic genius. A lot of what he did in this film was improvised, including much of his two most memorable and hilarious scenes, one in which he's describing his encounter with the Dalai Lama, and the other being his soliloquy of the `Cinderella Boy' on the course at Atlanta. This is truly inspired, funny stuff, and it proves what can be done without resorting to banal vulgarity or crudeness (not that this film is entirely devoid of it, but at least it's tempered here somewhat-- not so overt and in-your-face like you'll often find in some of the more recent offerings of the genre). And there's a harmless shiftiness about Carl, who is about as deep as a pan pizza, and Murray plays it all beautifully.

O'Keefe gives a solid performance, as well, but he's basically the straight man here, the set-up guy for one funny situation after another. And he does it quite nicely.

Also giving memorable performances are Ted Knight, as the rigid, conservative Judge, and Brian Doyle-Murray as Lou Loomis, who oversees the caddies at Bushwood.

The supporting cast includes Sarah Holcomb (Maggie), Scott Colomby (Tony), Cindy Morgan (Lacey Underall), Dan Resin (Dr. Beeper), Henry Wilcoxon (The Bishop), Albert Salmi (Mr. Noonan), John F. Barmon Jr. (Spaulding Smails) and Lois Kibbee (Mrs. Smails). With this film, Ramis and company honed the formula for comedy that incorporated pop culture and contemporary sensibilities into it like never before. And `Caddyshack' is an example of it in it's purest form; you'll have to look long and hard to find anything out of this same mold today that can come close to the prototype. It's one of those movies that gets even better with age-- and funnier, too. It's the magic of the movies. I rate this one 10/10.

When you watch Caddyshack, you think to yourself that this is rather lowbrow. Then you disregard that part of your brain and settle down for some lowbrow fun. Chevy Chase has top billing, and he's very good. He's very calm, very funny, and quick witted. But the ones who nearly steal the show are Ted Knight and Bill Murray. Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield play off each other nicely. Knight gets flustered and starts stammering, and you can see every vein on his neck! Dangerfield counters with a crack at Knight's expense and it gets better from there. Bill Murray is great as Carl, the groundskeeper with a vendetta against that gopher. He mumbles things to himself, watches old ladies play golf and develops his own grass that can be smoked after playing golf on it. And always remember Ty Webb's words of wisdom: "A flute with no holes is not a flute, and a donut with no holes is a danish."

I saw Caddyshack on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies, and it was really up there in the top three. But when I asked my mom if she saw it, she said it was highly over rated, then I asked my movie buddy if she saw it, she also said that she found it over rated. But I decided to go ahead and check it out myself, just see if I would like it or not. I rented it and watched the movie last night, while I do agree that it is slightly over rated, I still thought that this was a funny comedy. For me, Rodney definitely brought life to the movie, without him, I think the movie would have just been average. I know some people find him annoying, but he was just so funny in this film, I loved his out fits and crazy love for life was just so great. Also Bill Murray, I don't see too many movies where he is more funny than obnoxious, but he and the gopher was just classic. Golfing is becoming the funniest sport ever.

Danny and his co-workers are caddy's, they have a blast when they're on break. But Danny wants a life outside his family and city, so he is going for a scholarship where if he's a great caddy, he could win it. So he starts getting in with the big time golfers. He's slowly getting into their good graces. But he also meets the more lively golfers, who are less snobby and actually enjoy life. But they decide that the older and more stuffy golfers need to get their butts kicked and should leave the course, they're ready to party down with the sport.

Caddyshack is really funny at times, like I said, I think the story that got me most was the battle between Bill Murray and the gopher, it was so stupid that it just went from dumb to funny. The gopher did look very fake and corny, but it's all good. I would recommend Caddyshack if you are looking for a few laughs, I did enjoy it. When it comes to top comedies, I'm still debating if this should've made the top three on Bravo's top funniest movies, but it's all good, it's other people's opinions. Just check it out for yourself and try not to think of those who over blow how funny it is.

7/10