MovieChat Forums > Caddyshack (1980) Discussion > A bit like 'The Office'

A bit like 'The Office'

posted 7 months ago by avortac4 (3478)
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What? Not every post of mine HAS to have 'makes no sense' in it.

In any case, this .. "movie??" .. is a bit like 'The Office' from my viewpoint. At first, it felt like drinking stale water - I felt nothing. I didn't even crack a smile. I didn't get it. What's supposed to be funny about people working in an office and being really weird about things? The American version was even weirder in that sense.

It took me quite many a viewing to start getting some of the humor in it, and to understand why it's funny. The more I knew the characters, the more I 'got it', and now I love 'The Office' - not every episode, but it has so much amazing humor, often impressively subtle.

Now, this ... "movie?" .. I saw a long time ago, and I didn't like it or get it. I saw it many times, after people raved about it, hyped it to high heavens and back, and I never really 'got it'. I expected something like 'Top Secret!', but what I got was a weird montage of mismatching gag reels, that felt like a collection of something that dropped on the floor while someone was editing an ACTUAL movie.

The more I have seen this movie, the more I have 'attuned' to its crazy and stupid factor, so I have started to appreciate its gags more. The main plot is still boring and irrelevant, Chevy's skits are still a bit of 'hit and miss, mostly miss' (he has done same bits in other movies with way more humor, I can't praise 'Fletch' enough - the whole 'as far as you know' and 'thank you very little' work when done right), most of 'Danny' bits feel like your car suddenly ran into tar and can barely move after cruising freely in a German Autobahn 200km/h (not even gonna convert that to the ridiculous imperial system) and so on.

Then there are the completely strange parts that have nothing to do with anything, the whole Bill Murray bit doesn't work for me at all (he CAN be funny, but this 'dumb guy schtick' is just too childish and .. un-subtle? for the lack of better term).

However, whenever Rodney pops up on the screen, the experience revitalises and starts going again, and making you laugh and at least be amused and entertained. He always does and says the unexpected, and when he's insulting people, you really feel it.

The ending doesn't make sense, the disgusting bits are unnecessary and so on and so forth, but it does have 1980s feel to it, some good music, great 'atmospheres', and Rodney's humor, plus some odd gags here and there that are pretty good.

It never feels like a well-written, well-planned, coherent story or a proper movie, but more like 8 different movie ides, none of which worked very well, haphazardly stiched together forcibly, then peppered with weird comedy and gags all over the place, and that's the 'movie'.

Now I think I 'get it', but it's still not a masterpiece by a long shot. I can enjoy it nowadays, if I fast forward the 'Danny and ugly GF-drama' bits and disregard the illogical ending and the ridiculous, antropomorphized gopher puppet (I always wish Bill's character could actually do his job and eradicate that thing - surely there must be working methods, or golf courses couldn't exist - THAT would be funnier than anything he actually does in the movie)..

..I would still hesitate to suggest this to anyone, as most of it really isn't that great, and even the funny bits are not as funny as whole other movies can be (I can't keep a straight face more than maybe 1.7 seconds when watching 'Top Secret!', for example).

If the boring and disgusting bits were removed, the random things made a bit more sense, and the jokes were polished a bit, this could be a great classic. As it stands now, it's an 'ok experience', as long as you know just how mismatched piecemeal mess it is and accept it, and fast forward all the caddy and Danny drama stuff.

Rodney really saves the experience, without him, I wouldn't even bother with this.

[–] GolfnGuitars (2394) 7 months ago

I actually agree with a lot of your points. It's a "weird" movie...a lot of it doesn't make sense. The cuts from one setting to another are often awkward. The movie definitely has a "rambling" feel to it (If you haven't seen it already, you should watch the documentary that came out some years back on the making of "Caddyshack"...I think they shot over 4 hours worth of footage for this and it sounded like filming for this movie was just one big, long, extended party). The writers botch the ending a bit (It's an incorrect application of what is called a "press"...the term "double or nothing" is incorrect). Nothing in the movie looks like Nebraska, where the story was supposed to be set. So on and so forth.

And yet...somehow, it all works (IMO). I think there are several different levels of humor in this movie that appeal to various types of people. I'm a golfer, so I definitely get the "golf humor" aspect of it (e.g., Every golf club has a "Judge Smails"...a self-important blowhard who thinks he's God's gift to golf, someone who cheats and thinks he's a better golfer than what he really is. Also, the sequence with the Bishop having the round of his life, only to blow it on the final hole. So on and so forth.). I agree that Rodney is great in this...he was just a funny guy and he's such a perfect antithesis to stuffy Judge Smails. You have the scenes/storylines with Lacey and Maggie for sex appeal. Then you have all the "minor characters" who contribute so much to the movie (e.g., Spaulding Smails, D'Annunzio, Dr. Beeper, Lou, et.al.).

I know Tiger Woods said it's his favorite movie (He did a commercial a few years back that spoofed the Carl Spackler character...it was great!). If you're a golfer, I don't know how you can't not like this movie. I think you have to look at this movie as a "farce," because that's really what it is. I don't think it's meant to have every single thing in the movie taken seriously.