An amusing comedy but hardly the classic you may have been led to believe it was.

Rating: Null/10 (2 September 2005)

Following suit of Animal House and the National Lampoon brand of humor, Caddyshack is an acceptable and amiable enough comedy about a golf course and its wacky inhabitants. There's the hotshot pro golfer, played by Chevy Chase; the loud-mouthed tycoon visiting for a championship (Rodney Dangerfield); and the goofy caretaker (Bill Murray) who is trying to rid the park of its pesky resident gofer (a really cheesy-looking muppet).
The film's legacy precedes it and, unfortunately, speaks too well for itself  it simply doesn't live up to its name. Too many gags are obvious, too many fall flat, and only a few are actually memorable  incidentally all of which involve Rodney Dangerfield, who steals the film from everyone else, including Murray.
The plot is extremely thin: it's really just about a golf course. There's a teenaged caddy who dreams of winning a scholarship, the hot babe who tries to steal him away from his girlfriend, the old stuck-up conservative figure who can't stand liberal Dangerfield's behavior and of course an abundance of slapstick material to fill out these different subplots.
The film was directed by Harold Ramis, usually a rather reliable director, here giving another solid directorial effort in the vein of producer-friend Ivan Reitman ("Ghostbusters") and John Landis ("The Blues Brothers").
"Caddyshack" is at its best when it isn't trying too hard, which isn't often. A few times it steps out of line and risks it all for a huge gag that will backfire, but oh well.
One aspect of the film worth mentioning is Bill Murray's groundskeeper and his annoying gofer hunt. Many people love these random scenes that appear throughout the film, but I do not. They're alright, but not very funny; the gofer belongs in a child-marketed PG-rated film, not an R-rated adult comedy.
Caddyshack is not a bad film; it is just not a very good one. As a comedy it delivers enough laughs to recommend. It's hardly an offensive comedy (although it does have some profane language and scatological references) and will keep you entertained. Just don't expect another Animal House.