Caddyshack

Celebrating its 30th anniversary with a Blu-ray debut, first-time director Harold Ramis' slobs-versus-snobs cult comedy ostensibly tells the story of a working-class caddy (Michael O'Keefe) trying to land a college scholarship, but the coming-of-age tale quickly becomes just another thread in the ensuing comic chaos. Chevy Chase, fresh off Saturday Night Live, takes top billing in a defining turn as an eccentric Obi Wan Kenobi of the country club set (playing what you might call Zen golf), Rodney Dangerfield is a walking loudspeaker of bad taste and crude manners, and Ted Knight is the apoplectic judge determined to drive the boors out of his exclusive enclave. Yet Bill Murray steals the show in a couple of scenes as Carl, the slob of a groundskeeper who wages a one-man war against a goofy gopher. Essentially Animal House on the links, Caddyshack is neither as raucous or outrageous as that legendary farce, but it boasts the same rebellious spirit and a great cast mixing talented nobodies with comedy legends. Genius? Perhaps not, but Caddyshack remains a touchstone ‘80s comedy. Blu-ray extras include the exclusive, exhaustive, and entertaining feature-length documentary Caddyshack: The Inside Story, which reveals how the film was practically rewritten on the set, thanks to the cast of ad-libbing improvisational comics (fun fact: Murray had no lines in the original script!), as well as a 1999 retrospective featurette with outtakes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)