Caddyshack - Wahnsinn ohne Handicap

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.

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."

A big hit in its day, 'Caddyshack' was set in a more salubrious venue than your usual low comedy; being set among the country club set with a cast ranging from De Mille veteran Henry Wilcoxon to a cute young actress soon to swallowed up by television by the name of Cindy Morgan.

Cutest by far, however, was a cheeky little fellow with staring eyes and buck teeth listed in the credits as 'Chuck Rodent', who literally popped up throughout the story to provide a foil to Bill Murray as his would be nemesis as a spaced out groundsman "licensed to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. A man free to kill gophers at will!"

CADDYSHACK could very well be the ultimate comedy.

The ultra-crass zillionaire (Rodney Dangerfield) is the perfect foil for the stiff, humorless, snobby Judge (Ted Knight). The sneaky, animatronic gopher is the perfect nemesis for the hopelessly inept, shell-shocked Assistant greenskeeper (Bill Murray).

The central theme of class warfare is represented by the working class caddies set against the backdrop of the exclusive golf course / club and its highbrow members. Young Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe) is vying for a college scholarship, and taking useless, pseudo-spiritual counsel from golf pro, Ty Webb (Chevy Chase). Don't worry, none of it is taken the least bit seriously. At all.

Memorable scenes abound, including the "Water Ballet" and "Baby Ruth bar incident" scenes at the pool. Of course, any scenes with Dangerfield, Knight, Murray, or Chase are hilarious classics!

Director Harold Ramis caught comic lightning in a bottle here! A comedic masterpiece from beginning to -explosive- end!

CADDYSHACK is on a very short list of movies that I will drop everything to watch!...

CADDYSHACK is one of the Top 5 funniest movies of all time. The show-stealer is obviously Rodney Dangerfield, who also happens to be the coolest old dude ever. His outrageous lines such as "Did somebody step on a duck?" are all knee-slappers. Another standout is Carl Spackler, played perfectly by Bill Murray. Carl is a goofy groundskeeper that is obsessed with killing a mischevious gopher. Some of the funniest parts in this movie are Murray's ad-libs. Unfortunately, the plotline of the caddies is overlooked by the outstanding performances by comedic stars such as Dangerfield, Murray, Chevy Chase, and Ted Knight. While CADDYSHACK is an absolute classic, CADDYSHACK 2 is a bomb and fails to live up to the hilarity of this one.