... or "golf sticks and comedians' shticks"
... or "great balls of fur"
(so many titles I could use for that one)
I guess I was more enthused by the perspective of discovering Harold Ramis' classic "Caddyshack" the first time than the second. It was 2010 and back then I was an AFI (American Film Institute) buff and watching a film listed in the Top 100 most classic quotes, Top 100 comedies and Top 10 sport films made me drool of crazed anticipation. I expected a goofball comedy full of wit and satire, a stellar cast and just laughs and laughs. That was 12 years ago and I do remember I was disappointed. I didn't find it bad at all but the ratio of jokes-that-worked and jokes-that-didn't left me perplex. Sure, there were some good moments, some hilarious ones, but the film relied so much on comedians doing what they do best that it failed to tie their performances together through a good story. Bill Murray was funny in every single scene he was but even his shtick got me tired.
It took me 12 years to forget it enough and make the second viewing as fresh as the first. I don't think I liked it any better but I'm milder in my criticism. I appreciate Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) and his low-key hedonistic approach to life and the way he swings back and forth between confidence and the kind of embarrassment he tries to hide behind a sort of dandy dilettante charm. His motto is "be the ball", he's so good at it we might not notice he can be a hole... a very specific one. I also liked the way the film served as a platform for Rodney Dangerfield playing a successful condo estate nouveau riche, and giving a taste of his biting wit to the snobbish Wasps of the Country Club. In that cocktail of anarchical farce that drained its inspiration from "Animal House" and the National lampoon's comedies, Dangerfield was both the olive and the rainbow-colored umbrella. On that level, the comedian 'got my respect'.
I am not sure I liked Ted Knight in his over-the-top approach to his character as the Judge but I admire the way he stuck to his guts in what was a thankless role in the same vein than Sally Kellerman's part in "MASH". It was just as if the man was so used to be the butt-joke of childish pranks it affected his own maturity. He had it coming a little and I guess his 'evilness' was there to hide a certain insecurity too. Imagine if you were surrounded by so many younger or fuller of life people, would you also keep shielded behind your social status? In a green, everyone is equal in the club as long as you can handle it. Speaking of which, I liked Michael O'Keefe as the underdog unsung hero Ted Noonan, a guy setting his ambitions a little high, not indulging to infantile nuisance and getting the girl at the end and all the acclaim. He was predictable but he didn't overplay it. Still, no disrespect to him, any young good-looking six-footer could have made it.
One word, in fact one paragraph about Bill Murray and his personal settle with the gopher, I liked that sort of roadrunner's running joke that was so preposterous and cartoonish that it actually did something I didn't expect: it gave the film a soul, something to hook your memory on, it was the salt of the margarita so to speak. The gopher was cute and charming and Murray played Carl the gardener as a man who could truly be outsmarted by a little ball of furry. The jokes get a little tiresome but well, even the least inspired moments from Murray will get you a smile, Murray can almost get away with everything. I was also pleasantly surprised by his brother Bryan Doyle Murray as the caddies' manager as much as I was mind-blown by his resemblance to his brother. It didn't last.
Now I liked many things about "Caddyshack", but how about the big picture?
All comedians are good. Individually, each one could have been a solid pro or antagonist of the film. But somehow the film never finds a proper storyline to get them together. And I know that wasn't the point, the point was to make a golf film, a "slobs vs. Snobs" where humor would be the only law to abide by. I know the film was made under the euphoric effect of improvisation (among many other 'things') and so that it achieved a certain reputation without much of a plot is an achievement by itself. But for me, it has certainly to do with the gallery of stars and their madcap spirit. "Caddyshack" is basically an overlong SNL sketch or a compacted sitcom series.
There are some really inspired moments though: the chocolate "Jaws"ing its way in the swimming pool, the 'Cinderella story' monologue but even more the scene that followed with the old man playing in the rain that was bizarrely moving and inspiring, and Dangerfield dancing and finally giving an explanation to the ending of that Simpsons episode where he was a guest. Sometimes it doesn't take more than that.
Oh, and I'm glad the film didn't overplay its obvious naughtiness, it did indulge to some gratuitous nudity, nothing surprising for a film clearly aiming a male audience and we, men, are more inclined to immaturity. But I would give it an extra-point because at least it spared us a peeping shower scene.
The film is immature, it's an underachiever but it has talented comedians and if not one of the best films about golf, it's certainly one of the most famous. A few handicaps but not bad a legacy.
I guess I was more enthused by the perspective of discovering Harold Ramis' classic "Caddyshack" the first time than the second. It was 2010 and back then I was an AFI (American Film Institute) buff and watching a film listed in the Top 100 most classic quotes, Top 100 comedies and Top 10 sport films made me drool of crazed anticipation. I expected a goofball comedy full of wit and satire, a stellar cast and just laughs and laughs. That was 12 years ago and I do remember I was disappointed. I didn't find it bad at all but the ratio of jokes-that-worked and jokes-that-didn't left me perplex. Sure, there were some good moments, some hilarious ones, but the film relied so much on comedians doing what they do best that it failed to tie their performances together through a good story. Bill Murray was funny in every single scene he was but even his shtick got me tired.
It took me 12 years to forget it enough and make the second viewing as fresh as the first. I don't think I liked it any better but I'm milder in my criticism. I appreciate Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) and his low-key hedonistic approach to life and the way he swings back and forth between confidence and the kind of embarrassment he tries to hide behind a sort of dandy dilettante charm. His motto is "be the ball", he's so good at it we might not notice he can be a hole... a very specific one. I also liked the way the film served as a platform for Rodney Dangerfield playing a successful condo estate nouveau riche, and giving a taste of his biting wit to the snobbish Wasps of the Country Club. In that cocktail of anarchical farce that drained its inspiration from "Animal House" and the National lampoon's comedies, Dangerfield was both the olive and the rainbow-colored umbrella. On that level, the comedian 'got my respect'.
I am not sure I liked Ted Knight in his over-the-top approach to his character as the Judge but I admire the way he stuck to his guts in what was a thankless role in the same vein than Sally Kellerman's part in "MASH". It was just as if the man was so used to be the butt-joke of childish pranks it affected his own maturity. He had it coming a little and I guess his 'evilness' was there to hide a certain insecurity too. Imagine if you were surrounded by so many younger or fuller of life people, would you also keep shielded behind your social status? In a green, everyone is equal in the club as long as you can handle it. Speaking of which, I liked Michael O'Keefe as the underdog unsung hero Ted Noonan, a guy setting his ambitions a little high, not indulging to infantile nuisance and getting the girl at the end and all the acclaim. He was predictable but he didn't overplay it. Still, no disrespect to him, any young good-looking six-footer could have made it.
One word, in fact one paragraph about Bill Murray and his personal settle with the gopher, I liked that sort of roadrunner's running joke that was so preposterous and cartoonish that it actually did something I didn't expect: it gave the film a soul, something to hook your memory on, it was the salt of the margarita so to speak. The gopher was cute and charming and Murray played Carl the gardener as a man who could truly be outsmarted by a little ball of furry. The jokes get a little tiresome but well, even the least inspired moments from Murray will get you a smile, Murray can almost get away with everything. I was also pleasantly surprised by his brother Bryan Doyle Murray as the caddies' manager as much as I was mind-blown by his resemblance to his brother. It didn't last.
Now I liked many things about "Caddyshack", but how about the big picture?
All comedians are good. Individually, each one could have been a solid pro or antagonist of the film. But somehow the film never finds a proper storyline to get them together. And I know that wasn't the point, the point was to make a golf film, a "slobs vs. Snobs" where humor would be the only law to abide by. I know the film was made under the euphoric effect of improvisation (among many other 'things') and so that it achieved a certain reputation without much of a plot is an achievement by itself. But for me, it has certainly to do with the gallery of stars and their madcap spirit. "Caddyshack" is basically an overlong SNL sketch or a compacted sitcom series.
There are some really inspired moments though: the chocolate "Jaws"ing its way in the swimming pool, the 'Cinderella story' monologue but even more the scene that followed with the old man playing in the rain that was bizarrely moving and inspiring, and Dangerfield dancing and finally giving an explanation to the ending of that Simpsons episode where he was a guest. Sometimes it doesn't take more than that.
Oh, and I'm glad the film didn't overplay its obvious naughtiness, it did indulge to some gratuitous nudity, nothing surprising for a film clearly aiming a male audience and we, men, are more inclined to immaturity. But I would give it an extra-point because at least it spared us a peeping shower scene.
The film is immature, it's an underachiever but it has talented comedians and if not one of the best films about golf, it's certainly one of the most famous. A few handicaps but not bad a legacy.