Brandon at Random Reviews

Once in a lifetime a movie comes along that have SNL alums Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, features Rodney Dangerfield standing around doing long, drawn-out comedy bits everywhere he goes, includes Ted Knight playing a snobbish country club member who sucks at golf and cheats, has a Kenny Loggins-centric soundtrack, a mechanized stuffed gopher that dances, oh and also there’s this protagonist guy named Danny (Michael O’Keefe, who is in other stuff but this is the only movie I really know him from) who happens to be the main character driving the plot? If you say so.

This movie is great. Let me start off by saying that. It is one of my all-time most watched comedies both due to its golf and some comic geniuses on the screen. There is a lot of ad-libbing, especially on the part of Bill Murray. And what is written still appears to be ad-libbed. There are so many great lines and dialogue/exchanges. It’s like you’re not really watching a cohesive story. You’re watching a series of comedy bits.

Bill Murray stands out the most for me here. His bits like the Dalai Lama story, the Cinderella story, the hunt for gophers, the hybrid grass he created, all spectacular comedy that I reference on the regular, and you should too. Chevy Chase has his usual great one-liners, but he’s got nothing on Bill in my eye. Dangerfield as I mentioned has these long bits he goes on, not usually my breed of humor but I actually enjoy them in this one.

The summation of the plot is Danny doesn’t know what to do with his life, and he has to decide if he should sell out to get a scholarship and go to college. That’s really it in terms of main driving forces of plot. That is pretty much all. So if you’re looking for something of a truly compelling comedic story, this is not your film. This movie is merely a vessel for comedy routines to be put on display for everyone to see. Nothing else. And that’s fine by me.

All in all I feel safe in declaring “Caddyshack” a comedy classic, with some of the greatest bits ever put to celluloid. The all-star cast makes this thoroughly enjoyable all the way through. Amazing direction by the late great Harold Ramis. Great writing by Ramis as well along with Brian Doyle Murray, and Douglas Kenney. I’d say check this one out if you haven’t already, it’s an all-time great. But maybe you’ll hate it. I don’t know your taste.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“And he says ‘Oh, uh, there won’t be any money. But when you die, on your death bed…you will receive total consciousness.’ So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.” -Carl (Bill Murray)