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Caddyshack: Screwball Comedy or Social Commentary?
by Ken Swift
Caddyshack was not a great cinematic achievement
or a movie of social importance. Harold Ramis's directorial
debut, approaching its 25th anniversary, is a collection of thin
plot lines. Caddyshack has, however, seeped into popular
culture, perhaps as much as any other film, due to a barrage
of one-liners performed by comedic talents such as Bill Murray,
Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase, and Ted Knight. It very well
may be the most quoted movie of all time (at least for my demographic,
white males under 45), as even today one can not walk past a
golf course without hearing someone being told to "be the
ball" or noting that their ball is "in da hole."
Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura even asked the Dalai
Lama if he had seen the movie, which includes a scene where assistant
greens keeper and potential gopher assassin Carl Spackler brags
that he caddied for the Dalai Lama (big hitter) on a course in
the Himalayas. The Dalai Lama told the governor that he had
not seen the film, but, reportedly, leaned over to the governor
at the end of their meeting and said "Gunga ga lunga. Gunga
la gungala gunga", which is what Spackler claims the Dalai
Lama said after hitting a big tee shot.
 Caddyshack also embraces
many of the commonly held negative notions about lawyers and
how they manipulate the power of the law for their own personal
advantage. The "bad guy" in the film is Judge Smails
(Ted Knight), who owns Bushwood Country Club, where the movie
takes place. It is through Smails that the negative stereotype
of lawyers is developed.
The movie addresses also the love/hate relationship between the
medical and legal professions. Judge Smails' golfing buddy in
the movie is a doctor, the aptly named Dr. Beeper. The two lord
over Bushwood. In the end, however, the doctor is forced by the
lawyer to potentially put a patient in jeopardy by delaying surgery
to play in a high-stakes golf match that the doctor does not
want to participate in.
Lawyers are also shown to have "pliable" ethics. In
an opening scene, an obnoxious land developer, Al Czervik (Rodney
Dangerfield), becomes impatient with Judge Smails' pre-tee off
contortions ("while were young") and bets the judge
that he will slice his shot into the woods. The judge fires
back that: "gambling is illegal at Bushwood. And I never
slice." At the end of the movie, however, the judge takes
part in a high-stakes golf match because he is certain that his
team has an advantage.
The abuse of power is exemplified in the relationship of Judge
Smails and Danny Noonan. Noonan is a caddie and a high school
senior who sees the caddie scholarship, controlled by Judge Smails,
as his only chance for college. The judge uses this power to
get Noonan to mow his lawn and help him to cheat at golf (by
looking the other way while the judge uses the always valuable
"foot wedge" to improve his lie). Noonan even covers
for the judge's temper. After Smails misses an important putt,
he angrily throws his putter several hundred feet into an outdoor
cafe, striking a woman. Noonan steps up and takes the blame,
noting that he should have warned the judge that "his grips
were worn." Finally, after Noonan's tryst with the judge's
niece turns into a semi-public event that could potentially embarrass
the judge, the judge uses his power, in this case the caddie
scholarship, to bribe Noonan into silence.
In the end, however, Noonan realizes that he does not like himself
very much and turns on Smails and beats him in the big golf match,
providing us with a the requisite good over evil finish. As
assistant greenskeeper Spackler would say "that's all she
wrote."
Posted September 1, 2004
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