Following the success of "National Lampoon's Animal House" a couple of years earlier Harold Ramis and Doug Kenney struck comedy gold a second time with this classic that once again pitted the slobs against the snobs.

The cast is dynamite. Chevy Chase was at the top of his game as zen golfer Ty Webb, Bill Murray was equally memorable as demented assistant greens-keeper Carl Spackler, the one and only Rodney Dangerfield basically played himself with predictably hilarious results and rounding it out was Ted Knight, who effortlessly oozed smarm.

The storyline is rambling but that doesn't matter much. It's the jokes and the interplay between the actors that fuels the movie. It was no surprise to learn that there was a lot of improvisation going on on the set. The sole scene shared by Chevy Chase & Bill Murray is sheer genius through and through. Still, a more coherent story would have benefited the film.

There is one thing I'm not crazy about, though, and that is the music. 'Songs by Kenny Loggins' doesn't have the same ring today as it did about thirty years ago. That being said, "I'm Alright" isn't bad. I do wish, however, that the filmmakers had gotten Elmer Bernstein to handle the music like he did for "Animal House".

In the end, I give the all-around edge to the precursor, "Animal House", but this one is a worthy successor. Too bad Doug Kenney didn't live to see the end of the year or we might have seen more comedies of this caliber during the '80s.

The film has some great moments and is possibly one of the most ad-libbed pictures of all time. Chevy Chase, in one of his first film roles, gives us a taste of his great comic turn in 'Fletch'(1985) with the off-beat portrayal of club pro Tye Webb. Chase is really untouchable when it comes to playing funny-straight characters. Bill Murray is hilarious as grounds keeper Carl Spackler. Murray has improvised just about all of his dialogue and it really is superb. His 'Cinderella Story' scene, followed by caddying for the Bishop in the thunder storm is one of the funniest things i've seen on screen.

Rodney Dangerfield is somewhat hit and miss. All of his dialogue is quick fire one-liners so the chances are that when he does crack a funny joke you'll be so busy laughing that you'll miss the next one. The funniest one in my book is his retort to caddy Tony D'Annunzio: 'Hey kid, when are you due back in boy's town?' For me Ted Knight steals the picture as Judge Smails. He is such an energetic over the top character. His constant put downs of grandson Spallding , 'You'll get nothing and like it!', and random acts of frustrated violence supplied constant entertainment.

The question is...why didn't the film just focus completely on these guys? Instead it kept on harping back to Danny Noonan. Michael O'Keefe is a fine actor but he was always going to struggle in a comedy which featured the above cast members and characters. Another handicap is that in a comedy he gets few comedic lines. His character's relationship with his girlfriend Maggie, played inexplicably with a terrible Irish accent, and with his own family are highly under developed. Cindy Morgan is also given an extremely under written character who's motives are never explained and who randomly comes in and out of the film. Harold Ramis's direction is at times sloppy and echoes his then inexperience. He did go on to do 'Groundhog Day'(1993) though so he obviously learned his lessons.

To sum up this is a good film to get you in the mood for the summer. Lots of beautiful weather covering some splendid golf course scenery. There are plenty of likable characters and some very funny set pieces. Its also interesting to see the launch pad for some of the 80s biggest comedic stars. But be warned if you don't like Chase, Murray or Dangerfield then don't waste your time on this. Along with Knight, the film really is their show. For further evidence to support the final sentence just look at the poster.