Caddyshack II

A while ago I attempted to sit through the entire Caddyshack epic back-to-back, but part II took me three sittings. I toughed it out though. I'm not a quitter.

What happened here? What somehow made the original a classic lies with the filmmakers' decision to toss the script more-or-less and rely on the improvisational genius of the veteran comics. Here, the viewer is dragged though a lifeless, by-the-numbers 80s light comedy PLOT and left feeling hurt and confused and certainly not filled with mirth. Oh sure, you've got the talents of Jonathan Silverman AND Marsha Warfield (I keep waiting for some forward thinking, cutting edge network to bring back her talk show) vying for your attentions IN THE SAME MOVIE! And you get to see Jackie Mason in a lead role! That's not enough? Well, the two returning characters, Chevy Chase's Ty Webb and the gopher certainly pull their weight. Chase has no shame and everybody knows it. Robert Stack could make Hooked On Phonics sound like Crime and Punishment, so there's no fault there. Quaid and Akyroid are annoying as always....

Oh, I thought of something good! The Kenny Loggins theme song is fantastic! Far superior to his contribution to the original Caddyshack. Whenever I face a challenge in life, I am heartened by thinking of this inspirational song. "I'm goin' all the way"! I was pleased to see that it appears on a 2 disc best of Kenny Loggins. Good call.

caddyshack 2 was great. i liked it a lot better than the first. the first one was a bit dull and not that funny. caddyshack 2 is not one bit dull never unfunny, and always entertaining. i give it *** out of ****

Here's another example of a sequel that falls into "the too late, and why bother category". It has one asset: Jackie Mason. He's a classic, and rightfully likable guy, where Bushwood won't accept him, so he retaliates and that he does with personal malice, by planning to knock it down and put up an amusement park. All the magic to the original Caddyshack has gone, save for a couple of original stars, including that notorious gopher who we see more of, in this. Chevy Chase chatting up some hotties, uses some rude, tasteless lines that kind of mirrors how this quality whole movie comes across. Dan Ackroyd, donning a real high squealy voice, comes across as really annoying, a pain in the butt, which is where he gets shot with an poison arrow. Watching Weekend At Bernie's Jonathan Silverman at the start, getting used, by a snotty heartlss bi..h, that has him running many yards to fetch her a soft drink, made me thirsty, which had me thinking later, this scene was pointless and unfunny, although I'll always remember it. Mason and some hotties are really the only things, this movie has going for it, oh, and that gopher. Off by many tees.

While this one certainly is not the original, it certainly isn't bad enough to be on the list of worst movies ever. I found some of the jokes to be funny and it wasn't a complete waste of time so I just don't see how it has such a low ranking. Well maybe I do. The main problems I had with this one are the story and its focus. This movie really has nothing to do with caddies, other than Silverman's character there are no other caddies that are focused on. In fact, other than the fact it is a country club, Chevy's character is back, and the gopher it really doesn't have much else in common with the original. Jackie Mason is the focal point here taking the Rodney Dangerfield role from the first. Here is one of the problems; he isn't nearly as funny or likable as Dangerfield. The scenes with his daughter also get annoying as it gets somewhat serious at times. Chevy reprises his role as Ty, but other than the fact he goes "nananana" he almost is a different character. Dan Akroyd sort of takes the place of Bill Murray's character and has a few funny lines, but his performance will not make anyone forget Bill Murray from the first one. Also, you do not have special appearances in a movie, when that appears it just makes your whole movie seem a bit generic. Also, both Chevy and Dan were in the movie more than say Marsha Warfield who is listed ahead of them. There are some good performances though...I liked Randy Quaid's character and Robert Stack was rather good too. It is good for a couple of laughs and I do not really think it is all that awful, but if only they could have done a better job with the central story in this one. I just don't think Jackie was very good and he kind of pulls the movie down a couple of notches.

Every time I watch this movie blood comes gushing out of my eyes. Yes, you read that correctly: I've watched this wretched, foul thing more than once.

Caddyshack 2 went wrong for so many reasons: Harold Ramis dialing in a script and abandoning the direction duties, Rodney Dangerfield (wisely) walking away from the project because they wouldn't allow him to tinker with the script, Bill Murray showing excellent judgement and not being part of it, and a puppet being pushed forward as the feature player of a cast who deserved much better.

I can't help but think of Dyan Cannon in this and wonder why she's perpetually laughing and smiling. The only conclusion I can draw is that she is indeed the face of pure evil. Stay with me a moment. She must have been watching as the film came together and revelled in the untold agony that it would inflict on countless soon to be extremely sorry movie goers who would have this film inflicted on them. She may also have been extremely drunk. That's what I need to be right now to wash the foul taste of this complete and utter failure out of my mind. If I'm lucky it'll be washed out forever.

I have seen this film several times. I blame several of them on childhood and being a very dull and dim-witted boy who apparently had no aesthetic sensibility. Perhaps puppets are just funnier when you're a kid. No, the Muppet show is funnier now ... guess I was just dull. Caddyshack 2 is that rare kind of film that is so extraordinarily disappointing on so many levels that you convince yourself after the end credits that it couldn't have been as bad as all that. It WAS. It IS. It will only get worse with time.

My reasons for going back to this film, mercifully, are becoming fewer. Randy Quaid is limited in his role as Jackie Mason's lawyer. His opening scene isn't bad and brought out my only chuckle. We see him a few more times but it becomes as tired as the rest of the movie and descends with unfortunate rapidity from incidentally amusing to vapid wasteland. Randy Quaid acquits himself well, and this film owes him big time because if there was reason to watch this film as anything other than a torture tactic, he was it.

Maybe that's the trick of the movie. It has enough potentially endearing qualities that people watch it, are horrified at what they've done to themselves but later because the pickings were so slim can remember only what did actually amuse them. Years later they unwittingly watch it again and the cycle repeats.

Jackie Mason takes a lot of the blame for this film but in fairness, I'm not sure he deserves it. He's really trying out there but it is impossible to not to notice that he spends the entire movie doing a Rodney Dangerfield impersonation. That's who the movie was written for but I'm not sure even he could have saved it. Ultimately this fails miserably through terrible direction, bad editing (shall we count continuity errors?) and a rehashing of the same story with none of the wry humour or heart that made the first film endearing.

Dragged kicking and screaming up to a three out of ten instead of two by Randy Quaid's bulldog determination. It isn't even bad enough to laugh at. I've definitely seen worse, but trust your memory -- this one is a dog. If you've never seen it you've made excellent life choices and I salute your excellent judgement.