So, I know this one will shock a lot of people. No, I have not actually ever seen this movie. It's so incredibly iconic and revered for it's ridiculous content and stand-out cast that I should have seen it at some point, but I have never actually sat down to watch it. I've seen bits of it, but only minimally and what I have seen is barely clips of other people's favorite scenes, so I can't really piece together the story itself. Although Caddyshack doesn't actually fit into any theme I've come up with, I felt I absolutely had to include it in my year of films that I've never seen before. I've only got a few more months left before it will have been an entire year of films, so it's high time to watch this one. I know this story circles around a golf course in the 80s. Some truly notable faces appear in this film and leave lasting impressions with these characters. I remember hearing a story from the producer or director where he was explaining that they weren't even sure that Bill Murray was even going to show up for the film. The way you ask Bill Murray to be in your film is through a hotline answering machine. You leave a message and maybe he'll respond and maybe he won't. They left a message about the role they wanted him to play and when the day came to shoot his scenes, they hadn't heard from him, so they weren't sure he was going to be there. He did eventually show up and the rest is history. It's considered a classic and has left a lingering footprint in the film industry. I guess it's time for me to finally watch the film and see what all the fuss is about!
This is definitely an entertaining movie and I can totally understand how this could linger in the minds of those who've watched it. You could see that this film had all the earmarks of a movie made in 1980. Especially the late 70s/ early 80s love of gratuitous nudity. Some of the cast were major icons of that time and it was great to see them together. Still not a Chevy Chase fan, but I could enjoy this role more than most of his other films. I absolutely loved seeing Rodney Dangerfield in this. He's so over-the-top and hilarious. I really miss his humor and now I'm going to have to watch Back to School again because I feel like that is what I remember him from most. Bill Murray created quite a memorable character for this film based off of a few loose descriptions in the script. He ad libbed most of his entire dialogue in this film and it was far better for it. There were so many moments that stand out in your mind after watching this film. The priest who is having his best golf game in the middle of a hellacious storm, the guys doing synchronized swimming in the pool, Bill Murray whacking the heads off of the mums, Chevy Chase's overuse of baby oil and Rodney Dangerfield's beyond-modern-for-the-80s golf bag with music and beer keg. Some of the jokes are a little dated or chauvinistic, but not so much as to not be enjoyable. I also grew up with a love of 80s humor, so it might just be something I haven't noticed as much as someone who hasn't got that sense of nostalgia for that kind of humor.
This is the kind of movie that you just have to experience for yourself. It's not a movie where I can break down the themes or underlying messages because it's pretty straight forward and simplistic. It follows along the lives of those who work and patronize a golf course. The caddies are typical teenagers going through the usual hormonal situations that teens live through. The people patronizing the business run the gamut of stereotypes of people with money. The quiet eccentric like Chevy Chase, the snobbish old money persona that Ted Knight portrays and the outlandish new money character that Rodney Dangerfield exemplifies. Then there's the unusual character of the groundskeeper portrayed by Bill Murray. He seems a little unhinged, but not in a dangerous way. He does become a bit dangerous to the gopher, though, but that is his assigned task and he takes it very seriously. I loved the little plastic explosive animals he was crafting to send into the gopher holes. Totally hilarious that he would give them shapes to go after the pesky gopher. He's a bit of a creeper when it comes to the ladies of the golf course, but at least he's staying distanced away from them. It might have been a bit too cringey if he had approached them. Each of the characters feels pretty realistic even though they all seem to fit into some stereotype or another.
It's a perfect storm of chaos creating quite an amusement ride. I can't say I was rolling in laughter from the film, but I was definitely chuckling at the humor and outright laughing at other moments. It's more about the nostalgia of an age gone by for me than the actual moments themselves that had me enjoying this film. Like a lot of movies from that time, its small moments randomly scattered throughout the film that had me chuckling to myself. Those are also the moments that will linger in my mind the longest and are what I will refer back to when I reminisce about the movie. I'm glad that this film is no longer on the "never seen" list, though. It truly is a classic and is worth watching at least once.
I've been falling behind majorly in my posts, so I will try to do what I can to catch up, but there's still more to do. I am going to do my best to watch as many on my list as I can, but I can't seem to catch up fully, so I'm going to pick the most important and go with those. Stay tuned for more movies I've never seen!
For more movie love, check out my other blog, "You're Watching That Again?!"
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