Be the ball

Rating: 7/10 (15 September 2011)

More than thirty years after its initial release Caddyshack is now regarded as a comedy classic. People know it, love it, quote it. But does anyone even remember what this movie is actually about? It's the story of young caddy Danny Noonan, played by Michael O'Keefe, who is trying to finagle his way into a caddy scholarship for college by kissing the proper behinds. But all these years later nobody ever mentions poor O'Keefe or his character when they talk about this movie. Because Rodney Dangerfield stole the show. Or maybe Bill Murray stole the show. And wait, there's Chevy Chase too. Poor O'Keefe never stood a chance. His character may have been at the center of the movie's story but this is not a movie about story. This is a movie about laughs. And with Dangerfield, Murray and Chase involved there are certainly plenty of laughs to go around.
So when looking back on this movie you don't focus on the story. You just think of your favorite moments. For many people the majority of those moments seem to revolve around Murray's character of grounds keeper Carl Spackler, a simple man who has total consciousness awaiting him on his deathbed. There's that Dalai Lama bit. There's his wonderful "Cinderella story". There's his swimming pool snack. And there's the one scene Murray's Carl shares with Chase's Ty Webb, two comic geniuses in a brilliant back-and-forth. Chase's character is more or less a reserved straight man in the movie though he definitely gets his zingers in too. Not at all reserved is the outrageous Dangerfield who holds nothing back with his blustery, scenery-chewing performance. He'll do or say anything for a laugh. Dangerfield's character of Al Czervik has a lack of tact and good grace which really gets under the skin of Judge Smails, played wonderfully by Ted Knight. The stodgy judge could use a proper nemesis and in the outlandish Al Czervik he more than meets his match. All the good stuff from Murray and Chase and Dangerfield and Knight overshadows O'Keefe. Heck, poor O'Keefe even gets overshadowed by a gopher. The movie may be nominally about young Danny Noonan but it seems that director Harold Ramis knew the big laughs would come from elsewhere and just let the rest of his cast go nuts and do what they do best. And it works terrifically. Yes, some of the jokes and gags fall a little flat. The movie has some fits and starts, doesn't consistently keep up the laughs all the way through. But when it hits it hits big and all in all there are more than enough laughs to cover up a few rough spots. Maybe the movie could have done with just a little bit more attention paid to its actual story. And there are some other characters floating about we might have liked to have spent a little more time with. For instance Cindy Morgan, playing the stunning temptress Lacey Underall, could have been given more to do. In this movie where story is left on the back burner it's really all about everyone in the cast making the most of their respective moments. And everyone does. Even the gopher.