In Memoriam: Harold Ramis

In Memoriam: Harold Ramis

There was a lot of talk recently about Mount Rushmore when Lebron James made his choice about which iconic NBA stars he would put on “his” basketball Mount Rushmore (of course he then announced by the end of his career he would knock one of them off).  For whatever reason, any talk about the best of anything always requires choosing four to put on that category’s Mount Rushmore.

If you were to choose the Mount Rushmore of film comedies since 1978 it would not be insane to nominate Animal House, Caddyshack, Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day.  You’d almost have to bump Caddyshack in favor of Airplane!, and you could lobby for something from Woody Allen or the Judd Apatow family, but otherwise that’s a solid group of comedies for enshrinement.  What do they have in common?  Harold Ramis.

Unlike other noted film comedy writer/directors like Woody Allen, Charlie Chaplin or Preston Stuges, Ramis was not a singular comedic voice.  His best work was usually in collaboration with others, and his acting work was always in smaller roles.  But the fact that he had some input on so many classic comedies indicates that his comic instincts were formidable.

Putting out a few quality comedies could be a fluke; Ramis was associated with several comedies that were game-changers.  He was a co-writer on Animal House, a movie that transformed the movie industry by showing that a low-budget comedy could generate a huge box office if it was smart and took chances.  He co-wrote and co-starred in Ghostbusters, a film that proved that a big-budget comedy could generate a huge box office if it was smart and took chances (a lesson lost on Steven Spielberg when he made 1941).  He directed and co-wrote Caddyshack, which proved that one way to success is to just get out of Bill Murray’s way and let him ad lib.

And then there is Groundhog Day, which is Harold Ramis’ “Annie Hall,” the film where he went from making “funny” films and managed to combine laughter with heart.  In contrast to his early work which reveled in anarchy (thanks to stars like John Belushi and Bill Murray), Groundhog Day was a screenplay executed with mathematical precision (almost literally; people have tried to estimate exactly how many times weatherman Phil Connor re-lived the same day over and over and over).  It was a film whose unique structure required precision in plotting, character development and dialogue, and Ramis was more than up to the challenge.  Ignored by the Oscars, Ramis won a BAFTA award for Best Original Screenplay.  It was also the first film where Bill Murray’s acting was taken seriously, possibly contributing to his eventual nomination for Lost in Translation.

Unlike Woody Allen, Ramis did not follow Groundhog Day with a series of equally prestigious films.  In fact, his post-Groundhog Day efforts are a litany of mediocre comedies; the only one that stands out at all is Analyze This, which was one of the first films to successfully make hay out of the comedic acting chops of Robert deNiro.  Bedazzled was a poor idea poorly executed; why on Earth would anyone try to improve upon the Dudley Moore/Peter Cook original, especially with Elizabeth Hurley in the role as the Devil (Roger Ebert pointed out that if the Devil looked like Elizabeth Hurley, why is the poor guy selling his soul asking for another woman)?  Year One attempted to tap into the John Belushi zeitgeist with arguably his closest approximation, Jack Black, but it didn’t work. 

But why focus on the negative?  Animal House.  Caddyshack.  Vacation.  Ghostbusters.  Back to School.  Groundhog Day.  Now THAT’s a resume.