MovieChat Forums > Caddyshack (1980) Discussion > Honestly what is funny about this?

Honestly what is funny about this?

posted 10 years ago by lukyl
60 replies | jump to latest

In the most sincere way i can sound, i honestly want to know, what makes this movie funny? I barely cracked a smile at any of the jokes or slapstick, it was so insanely bland and terribly acted apart from a rare few.

I would go as far to say this was boring, using the lowest form of comedy (slapstick) as its holy grail. The dialogue was Terrible, apart from some of Dengerfield's rambles, which i assume were improvised for the most part.

So please enlighten me to some funny moments/quotes because i must have missed them.

(fwiw I love golf, and play fairly regularly so that wasn't it...)

[–] prplayer 8 years ago

agree with OP, didn't laugh once

Office Space, The Producers... now those are comedies

so many movies, so little time

[–] CalibMcBolts 8 years ago

I agree with the OP here. Expected some legendary comedy. and except Murray, who is always great, i didnt find any character funny and didnt laugh once at any of the jokes, other than Murray's.

Sorry.

The Producers, Blues Brothers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Chaplin & Keaton, Estaire & Rogers, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Annie Hall, The Apartment, Monty Python, A FIsh Called Wanda, Some Like it Hot, The Graduate, The Last Detail, Midnight Run, Being There, WHo Framed Roger Rabbit, The King of Comedy, The Player.

Now THOSE are some great classic comedies. Not this loud gibber jabber

Favorite films of all time list
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls031708001

[–] jimprideaux2 7 years ago

I tend to agree. Too many characters and perhaps the funniest was the puppet gopher.

The leads were Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield as antagonists. If you like these guys then you will like the movie. For me I kinda like Rodney for me Ted is always someone trying to be funny but isn't. It might have been OK if they were in support roles.

For younger members of the audience there was Michael O'Keefe. Michael O'Keefe? What other roles is he known for? He conflicted between two girls played by no-name actresses. Also has work conflicts with his boss and a co-worker. He tries to score pints with Ted to get a scholarship.

The only interesting thing the O'Keefe character has going is that he caddy's for Chevy Chase. Chase plays his character as an uneven Clark Griswold. The movie would have been better had Ty been given more screen time, and given better dialogue.

Bill Murray was great in his character however it was little more than a prolonged SNL bit. The best scenes were the ones the Murray character caddied for the Bishop.

[–] kag2 7 years ago

I didn't find it all that funny, either. But then, I never watched this movie as a teen in a full movie house on Saturday night in 1980, but as a middle-aged Netflix viewer in 2017, after having heard people talk about it for years.

This was no Animal House, nor was it an Airplane, a Blues Brothers, or a Cheech and Chong laughter. Still, Rodney Dangerfield was funny (dang, I miss him). The Jaws-inspired doodie in the pool scene was so stupid it made me laugh. Chevy Chase, thank you very little, brought a couple chuckles. And the two hot gals reminded me of those teenage hormone days. But somehow Bill Murray, an often funny dude, didn't connect for me.

Maybe it's a matter of taste.

An OK comedy. Not a great one.

[–] TMC-4 (19480) 6 months ago

With Animal House, at least when compared to Caddyshack, there's an actual A to B plot that I could follow and characters that I could genuine care about and root for.

[–] TMC-4 (19480) 6 months ago

I'm in the same boat as you are. I really don't think that Caddyshack is *that* funny. There's barely if any real semblance of a "plot", it's like a string of sketches thrown together with the only real connection being it set on and around a country club and golf course. It's like they didn't have a real script or basic idea of where the story was going to go, so they told Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase, and Bill Murray to ab-lib. That isn't to say that what they brought to Caddyshack wasn't at all remotely entertaining, but it's more "crack a smile" instead of "laugh out loud" funny fort he most part.

[–] BKB (6498) 6 months ago

Call it a Generational thing in that if you weren't a teenager of the 80's, you probably wouldn't find this funny, not to mention, it was riding high off SNL back when it was actually good which is a far comparion now in 2023

[–] stevewyzard (1276) 6 months ago

^^^BKB says it best.^^^

This is like trying to explain why a whole generation of Americans grew up watching The Brady Bunch. It resonated with a large (but not all-inclusive) group of people who could relate to it and understood where it was coming from. I realize there are those who feel excluded if they "don't get it", but it's really no more complicated than that. If you can't understand the situations/characters depicted, you probably can't relate to it. You had to be there (time and place).

The same applies to Caddyshack.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7451) 6 months ago

If it makes the TC feel better, my aunt hates this movie because she hates what Bill Murray does to the gopher. Then again she also hates Bill Murray's movie what about bob for similar type of reasons.

[–] stickman38 (3019) 3 months ago

What About Bob is pretty funny. What does your aunt think of The Man Who Knew Too Little, another Murray film?

And just so we all know, the OP is too old for a reply, that's an old post that was transfered from the IMDB boards. Any username that doesn't have a number beside it is a transfered post.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7451) 3 months ago

She doesn't like that one either cause she doesn't like that his character thinks it's part of a TV show when it's real. She does like Ghostusters 1 and 2 and Groundhog Day. Also, I keep forgetting that about old imdb threads. I like What about Bob, Caddyshack, and The man who knew too little.

[–] SandyR (7479) 3 months ago

It's not for rich people.