Caddyshack is Caddyshack is Caddyshack

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Sports movies are one of Hollywood’s most long standing and decorated genres, some of the most entertaining and powerful stories to grace the screen are centered around a big game or a heroic fight. The visceral hits of football are seen and felt up close, time really does slow down when watching a basketball fall through the net, each punch reverberates around a theater, sports movies inspire like no others. But, when it comes to golf movies, the entire script has to be flipped. The general audience will not be on the edge of their seat watching someone win a golf tournament; the best golf is boring golf, and that does not bode well for movies. Tin Cup was able to make the movie entertaining by focusing on the failures as much as the triumphs, Happy Gilmore used slapstick comedy and fish out of water scenarios to get the audience rooting for the underdog. There are others, yes, but none have had the cultural impact and longevity of Caddyshack.

 Part of what makes Caddyshack so special is that as a movie, it feels very much it’s own thing, and when it is compared to golf, it is the same sentiment. While a thin and hollow plot is usually a movie’s downfall, here, it is a benefit, just adding to the hilarity that ensues over the runtime. As a golf story, it is important as it makes the golf more of a baseline that everything else revolves around. The golf is ever present, but scenes like at the yacht club and dinner party are not golf centric, which is also true for golf. Of course, when going to play a round, the golf is the focus, but there are always other happenings on the course away from the sport that bring enjoyment, like a meal, or even a conversation. But, Caddyshack truly captures every element golf can bring, the hilarity, the unpredictableness, the triumphs, failures, vices, everything that can be associated with golf, Caddyshack seamlessly incorporates into the movie. Drinkers, gamblers, aces, shitters, everyone is represented and plays a role.