Is Caddy Shack the finest 1:38 in American cinematic history?

DWags wrote:You’ve never watched “Glad he ate her”

kingstonlake wrote:

DWags wrote:You’ve never watched “Glad he ate her”

Is it 1:38?

Floyd Robertson wrote:I was comparing the Caddyshack ratings to Animal House, which is 11 minutes longer and is rated slightly higher, on IMDB.

Holy shit in 8 more days Animal House will be 40 years old. 7/28/78.

Nordic wrote:Animal House
Caddy Shack
Blues Brothers

The triumviate of old school comedy flicks

Nordic wrote:Blues Brothers
Caddy Shack
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Animal House

The triumviate of old school comedy flicks

kingstonlake wrote:Convince me otherwise.

Jethro Bodeen wrote:

kingstonlake wrote:Convince me otherwise.

Caddie Shack has its moments- but it was actually two separate movies cobbled together in desperation. It was supposed to be a coming of age comedy (al la Fast Times at Ridgemont High) involving Danny Noonan but morphed into a series of gags dominated by Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray and to a lesser extent- Chevy Chase. It was supposedly based on the country club experiences of the Murray brothers ( writer Brian Doyle Murray aka Lou Loomis, Bill Murray etc) in Chicago. The other main writer, Dough Kenney (Stork in Animal House and co-founder of National Lampoon Magazine) also grew-up among country club set and his dad was a club tennis pro.

Right off the bat there were obvious problems with the script, direction and continuity. To make matters worse, there was very heavy alcohol and drug use by most of the cast on location. As filming wrapped, Director Harold Ramis thought the movie might be scrapped by the studio. Luckily for Ramis- he was able to cobble together enough of a story with the gags, the stars and the gopher.

Co-writer Doug Kenny was despondent  over the final product and when it opened to poor reviews, he became suicidal and it is assumed he jumped off a cliff in Hawaii shortly thereafter- never to see the movie become a box office smash hit.  

When I saw it in the theater back in the fall of 1980- I thought it sucked. Too much really dumb stuff out of the blue (like the gopher stuff) that didn't match the tone of the Danny Noonan story line.  And I though all of that Zen bullshit from Chevy Chase was schmaltzy. I had no idea of the back story then, but I was a huge fan of Doug Kenney and a long time fan of National Lampoon- I expected better.

Over the years- I have acquired a nostalgic fondness for the movie but I still cringe when Carmin DePasto (the 13 year old Mayors daughter from Animal House) appears with an inexplicable Irish accent (which I know now was part of the "coming of age" film reminiscent of the Irish girls that came to the US to work summers at the Chicago Country Clubs were the Murray boys caddied) "Tanks fer nuttin!!!"

So for me- its "OK". I enjoy watching it. But its not a technically good movie for the reasons I stated. But what do we watch movies for? To be entertained. So who am I to argue with you on what you find entertaining?  

tGreenWay wrote:Among the finest 98-minute comedies in American cinematic history, Caddyshack is right there with Vacation and Fletch. Choose your order, IDGAF.
Remember, OP only mentioned movies with a RT of 98 mins, so Fast Times and Animal House cannot be included, as Animal House was longer and Fast Times shorter. Hell, the naked Phoebe Cates coming out of the pool scene should’ve been fifteen minutes in super slow-mo all by itself.

Bill Cain wrote:I was pretty big into Anchorman as a youngling

The Pantry wrote:Will Ferrell has never been funny.

Jake from State Farm wrote:

Nordic wrote:Blues Brothers
Blazing Saddles
Caddy Shack
Animal House

The triumviate of old school comedy flicks

FIagainFY

Nordic wrote:
But GTFO here with Blazing Saddles