Review: Happy Gilmore

#99 - Happy Gilmore


Happy Gilmore is a film in the early stages of Adam Sandler's career. He was trying to push his way out of the funk that was Saturday Night Live, seeing as he, along with most of his co-stars, were dismissed from the cast. And when I say co-stars, I don't mean people that we never heard from again. I mean Chris Farley, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, Tim Meadows...basically everyone that makes up the cast of Grown Ups (minus Chris Farley R.I.P). This film, along with Billy Madison, is what put Sandler in the spotlight. People loved his movies, and his train to fame has never stopped since.

Happy Gilmore focuses on the lead character of the same name. He lives with his grandmother, and she has just lost all of her possessions, and her house, due to lack of paying her taxes. Happy finds a solution to helping her buy her house back when he finds out he's good at golf. Even though his dream has always been to play hockey, it seems his true calling is golf. With some help of a golf pro and a publicist, Happy wins enough tournaments to buy his grandmother's house back; however, cue the antagonist, Shooter McGavin. Shooter can't stand Happy, and he wants him removed from the golf tour. He schemes his way into buying Happy's grandmother's house in an auction, and he uses it as fuel to get Happy to quit the tour. Happy doesn't fall for it though, and he cuts Shooter a deal. If he wins, Shooter has to give him the house. If Shooter wins, Happy will never play golf again. Shooter takes the deal and loses. Happy not only wins the tournament and gets his grandmother's house back, he gains the affections from thousands of fans as well.

The first half of the movie is quite amusing. When Happy drops his grandmother off at the assisted living community, and the crazy lady jumps on the hood of their car, I couldn't help but chuckle. Happy throws food at her, as if she's a wild buffalo attacking.
I also love the fight scene between Bob Barker and Happy. It's classic. I don't know how many times I quoted this scene when I was younger - "The price is wrong, bitch!"

Aside from those few scenes in the film though, the rest is boring. I have never been a fan of Adam Sandler films, and I am still not. Some say that this was back when Sandler's films were actually funny, but I disagree...simply because I never really thought his movies were funny. Nowadays, he throws in these sentimental "learning" moments at the end his films that make me roll my eyes. He has his moments, but overall, Sandler is lame. He started out with an aggressive style of comedy - very over the top and in your face - and now he relies too heavily on his ensemble. The other actors carry his films. The only thing I have really enjoyed about his movies over the years is identifying the small group of actors that he consistently uses in every Happy Madison production. **see my Billy Madison post for more info

All in all, I give Happy Gilmore 2.5 out of 5 stars.