It’s really hard for me to be objective watching this documentary, because this documentary is me. I was a caddy growing up. I got a bunch of great stories and life lessons out of the summer job as the doc says. And I received “the caddy scholarship” to a college I couldn’t afford that changed my life forever, for the better. So on the one hand I’m happy Jason Baffa chose to honor the caddy with a feature length documentary, but as someone steeped in caddie lore, I know there’s a lot more he’s leaving on the table too.
Loopers, clocking in at just over 80 minutes, takes us on a leisurely stroll through the life of a caddy. Billy Murray narrates us through golf and caddyings beginning in Scotland, and how caddies are used/perceived overseas. Then he drifts over to the US, and talks about how the land of opportunity applies to caddies here. We get various professional golfers talking about how caddies have helped shape their lives for the better, even beyond the competitive sporting nature of the game. And we also hear from caddies today, some of whose lives were altered like mine was because of The Chick Evans Scholarship to go to college.
The best thing Loopers gets right is showing us why caddying matters. Director Jason Baffa makes a choice to play this movie completely earnestly, and mostly humorless. Baffa then brings on lots of professional golfers to talk about how caddies are more than just a golf bag carrying body: they’re connected on a much more personal level that can elevate their play. The best stories involve the caddies in Augusta, the site of the Masters championship. Loopers shows early and often how insider secrets of the course these caddies possessed helped multiple golfers win the tournament. The most lovely story is Masters winner Ben Crenshaw, who won in 1995 Masters because of his Caddie Carl Jackson’s knowledge of the course and keeping Ben focused after the death of his long time mentor the previous week. When Ben breaks down after winning, the first person you see is Carl, who’s there with a big hug. Along the way, you hear about caddies who saved their golfers from becoming alcoholics, from succumbing to depression, among other things. Even Bill Murray is so moved he plays it straight!
And 80 minute movie revering caddying is fine and noble, I agree. However, when the credits start, we see some of the funny footage Baffa gets, the movie comes alive, and herein lies his biggest strategical gaffe. Here’s the thing about caddying: every caddie I know has at least 4-5 great hysterical stories about life as a caddie. As important as caddies are to the golfers, there’s lots of dead time on a golf course, and that’s where the great stories usually exist (the movie even acknowledges this). I could regail you with stories of a professional golfer telling me the filthiest joke I’ve EVER heard, rainouts in the caddyshack leading to heavy gambling losses, and golfers and caddies sharing stories about drunkenly biking through drive thrus for McDonalds. The movie glosses over the 65 year old drunk caddies in Ireland/Scotland to get to the US, but I would have watched an entire movie of stories those guys have to tell. Baffa’s point would still have come across about how important caddies are to their golfers through the jovial relationship golfers and caddies have with one another, but he clearly has too much reverence for these relationships, which I can’t really fault him too much for. In the end, Loopers should have been a funny documentary with moving moments, not the opposite.
If you’re at all a fan of the game of golf, Loopers: The Caddie’s Long Walk will give you something interesting, eye opening, or at least fun. I saw a bit of myself in almost every frame of the footage, especially the Evans Scholarship section. Parents, consider this documentary and review a PSA: if you’re worried about paying for your kids to go to a university, and also want to teach your kids discipline and responsibility, there’s no better program out there than caddying, which could lead to the Chick Evans Scholarship. Take it from me, it’s LIFE changing, and made me the man I am today, a mediocre movie reviewer. *wink*