The Cinemasochist takes a look at movies that have been notoriously rejected by the mass populace, and tells you if you might perchance be missing a classic. Or not.
Harold Ramis's Caddyshack was a unique occurrence. It was less a cohesive film than it was an experiment to see what happens when you throw ten or fifteen of the world's best comic actors in a room and see what happens. Nobody remembers it for its plot or its screenplay, or its perfunctory love story, or even the adorable puppet gopher who dances over the opening music. It was for the manic comic explosion that happened when Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase, and Ted Knight occupied the same movie. It wasn't a smart bomb by any stretch--more of a comic splatter--but there were more hits than misses. And the actors--even Murray and Chase, who hated each other--improvised together to make it work.
Caddyshack II, perhaps inevitably, followed eight years later. Though unable to rekindle much of the original cast, it supplies a surprisingly strong road company. Chase returns as the inimitable Ty Webb. Jackie Mason steps into Rodney Dangerfield's shoes as the rich rabble-rouser who actually cares about the non-rich community. Robert Stack plays the Ted Knight role, as the upper-crust patrician who opposes him. Dan Aykroyd plays the Bill Murray role as a shady diner cook. Jonathan Silverman, Dyan Cannon, Jessica Lundy, Chynna Phillips, Dina Merrill, and Randy Quaid also step in. Ramis wrote the screenplay with Peter Torokvei, and veteran Allan Arkush (of Rock and Roll High School) takes the director's chair.
The problem? The film plays as the exact opposite of the original. While the original was an improvised masterpiece, the sequel seems meticulously planned. Nothing about it seems spontaneous. Though by no means horrible, and sometimes even funny, all the actors seem restricted, as if they're more closely scripted this time.
The plot is pretty much the same. The aristocrats of Bushwood Country Club are shaken when philanthropist Jack Hartounian (Mason) joins up. His company is in the process of building a block of low-rent apartments for low-income people, which threatens the property value of the nearby rich, notably Chandler Young (Stack). Meanwhile, Jack's daughter (Lundy) really wants to be part of the upper class, and finds herself being courted by Young's son (Brian McNamara), though a bumbling caddy (Silverman) has his eye on her.
Mason's character is one reason the movie isn't as potent as the first. Though Mason is often funny, he's far too polite to take on the Dangerfield role. His character is unimpeachable and nice; though Rodney was the hero of the first film, the funniest moments came from his crudeness in the face of the prim and proper atmosphere of the country club. Though he gets off a few one-liners, Mason is far too pleasant.
Stack is fun to watch as the straight man; though he'll never have a moment as laugh-out-loud funny as when he took off his sunglasses in Airplane!, he wisely takes the role as seriously as possible and makes a convincing punching bag. Chase also remains effortlessly funny.
Not a whole lot can be said for the rest of the film. Cannon and Silverman are wasted. Quaid mugs interminably as Jack's assistant. Aykroyd is a sorry replacement for Bill Murray; his answer to Murray's unforgettable character from the first film is to affect an irritating falsetto and act goofy.
Some of the set pieces in Caddyshack II get good laughs; others don't. But what pervades all of them is a sense that it's all been planned. Gone is the improvised atmosphere of the original, and in its place is an average '80s comedy.
** out of ****
Is it really that bad?: Well, no, but why bother with this film at all?
Pain level: Most of the time, intermediate. When either Randy Quaid or Dan Aykroyd is on screen, sharp.
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