Caddyshack
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 "Hey, everybody! We're all gonna get laid!"
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Caddyshack is a 1980 sports comedy starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, and Bill Murray. The film was written and directed by Harold Ramis.
Plot
Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) helps young caddy Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe) to play golf so he can win a college scholarship. Meanwhile, groundskeeper Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) struggles to annihilate a gopher tunneling underneath the golf course, real estate agent Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) plans on buying almost everything and Judge Elihu Smails (Ted Knight) shows no respect to people who disagree with him.
Why It Rocks
- The story is well-written, especially for a raunchy sports comedy.
- A majority of the characters are likable.
- The late Rodney Dangerfield steals the show as Al Czervik.
- Tons of quotable lines.
- It was a good way to start Harold Ramis' career as a director.
- Memorable scenes such as Carl eating a Baby Ruth candy bar that's been mistaken for feces, Al causing havoc on the lake with his massive cabin cruiser, the bishop's near-perfect game of golf (set to the main theme from The Ten Commandments) and the grand finale where the golf course is blown up.
- The gopher is a great adversary for Carl Spackler.
- "I'm Alright" by Kenny Loggins is a great theme song for the movie.
- Perfect timing between different character scenes.
- Amusing banters between different characters.
Bad Qualities
- While Judge Smails' grandson Spaulding is funny, he can get very annoying at times.
- The effects for the gopher haven't aged well.
- Some product placement, such as Cheerios and Baby Ruth.
Reception
Caddyshack received mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences. The film currently holds a 73% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average of 6.70 out of 10. The critical consensus reads "Though unabashedly crude and juvenile, Caddyshack nevertheless scores with its classic slapstick, unforgettable characters and endlessly quotable dialogue". Vincent Canby of The New York Times described the film as "A pleasantly loose-limbed sort of movie with some comic moments". Gene Siskel of The Chicago Tribune described it as "the proper mix of dirty jokes, slapstick and juvenile humor". Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film a two and a half out of a possible four stars and said "Caddyshack feels more like a movie that was written rather loosely, so that when shooting began there was freedom, too much freedom, for it to wander off in all directions in search of comic inspiration".
Box Office
Caddyshack grossed $3,142,689 domestically on its opening weekend and made a total domestic gross of $39,846,344. Overall, the film grossed $60 million worldwide against its $4.8 million budget.