As Far As Inane Juvenile Golf Comedies Go, It Wears The Green Jacket!

Rating: 10/10 (9 April 2011)

Critics and reviewers and people in general too often forget what is the best standard by which to judge a comedy film. In fact, it's the only standard. Is it funny? That's it. There's the whole of it, the single attribute that I took into consideration in assessing this film's cinematic value. I didn't debate it's social relevance. I didn't consider it's plot coherence. I didn't compare and contrast the individual actor's performances to previous ones of the genre. As far as I know, there had never before been a profound critique of the insidious contemporary American class structure in the guise of an absurd sports parody. And there probably still isn't, this movie just couldn't care less about making an intelligent point. It's only purpose is to be funny, and at this humble, meager task it's a soaring triumph. It is a friggin' non stop laugh riot.
There are so many iconic characters in this film that occupy such grand, imposing positions in the imaginations of appreciative fans; Ted Knight's outrageously pompous Judge Elihu Smails, Chevy Chase's irresistibly charismatic Ty Webb, Rodney Dangerfield's ridiculously gauche Al Czervik, and Bill Murray's sublimely revolting but adorable assistant grounds keeper Carl Spackler. Scarcely a day passes without me encountering someone, somewhere, either in person or on TV, attempting their version of Carl's quirky, crooked mouthed mumbled slurred speech. It's as ubiquitous and as irksome as an amateur reading of Shakespeare, but somehow more permissible. Bad Shakespeare is rarely just silly. The last two generations of comedy film fans have been the beneficiaries to an incalculable degree of Caddyshack's influence. Our culture is now infused with the blithe spirit of this preposterous film. It's certainly not the most profound cinematic experience of my life, but it is one of the most purely entertaining.
If the broad, slapstick nonsense isn't your cup of tea, then maybe you revel in the torrent of old-timey one liners, or admire the quick, witty dialog, especially that delivered by an enviably confident Chevy. Perhaps the refreshingly frank and genuinely sensitive relationship between Michael O'Keefe's Danny Noonan and Sarah Holcomb's Maggie O'Hooligan holds some attraction for you. Or maybe, like me, you're just an enthusiastic devotee of dancing gophers. Whatever your taste, there's got to be at least something here to take you to that special place in your heart - that secret golf course of the soul - where Fun & Games are fine and respectable endeavors. And if it so happens that a nice bit of exclusive, upper class, excessively manicured real estate gets obliterated in the process, so much the better.