Happy Gilmore [11]

Whenever someone starts to make a list of great golf movies, Happy Gilmore invariably makes the list. This is because there are very few golf movies period. Oh, there are some great movies, with a golf game as part of the plot. Goldfinger is the best example. James Bond (hero) and Auric Goldfinger (villain) play a round, with a gold bar at stake, in kind of a “getting to know you” setup. But there are very few movies about golf specifically or with golfer archetypes. Caddyshack is the lone standout as both a comedy, and a social commentary. So there is Caddyshack, and there is everything else.

The premise of Happy Golmore is funny. Adam Sandler plays the titular character, who is an ex hockey player. His accurate and powerful slap shot enables him to hit the long ball. This makes him a sideshow curiosity on the golf circuit. However, Happy is not a particularly likeable character, nor is he really happy. He probably should have been named “Wacko Raging” Gilmore. Even as a hockey player, he is lousy because he could not control his temper.

The only way to make Happy look good in this movie is to give him a sad story and to play him against three really evil characters. The sad story is that he has no family other than a really nice grandmother, played by Francis Bay. The three evil characters are:
1.) The IRS, who is about to seize Grandma’s home. Grandma has a $300,000 back taxes bill on a beautiful Queen Anne mansion on a large city lot. (I felt like siding with the IRS here. Maybe Grandma should downsize a bit.)
2.) A sadistic nursing home orderly (Ben Stiller), who was recently placed in charge of Happy’s grandmother. Ooo! Hateable! Boo! Hiss!
3.) Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), who is the top golfer on the pro tour. Shooter is not just a frat boy prankster, oh no. We see him in dream scenes making out with Grandma! Yuk! The character of Shooter McGavin has been mentioned in some lofty movie villain company along with Darth Vader and Hannibal Lector.

So Happy looks….sorta good.

What makes this movie work?
- Happy learns to control his rage
- He develops a good short game
- He gets a Subway endorsement
- He defeats the arrogant chubby rich white golfer with an improbable Rube Goldberg shot
- He saves Grandma’s house
- He gets the girl, Virginia Venit (Julie Bowen), who has no other purpose than to be the girl that Happy gets.

There are two memorable moments.
1.) The Price IsRight Host Bob Barker beats the crap out of Happy.
2.) Shooter McGavin gets the wind knocked out of his sails early:
McGavin: “I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast.”
Happy Gilmore: “You eat pieces of shit for breakfast?!”


This is not a great golf movie. This is not a great sports movie. This is not even a great movie. It is marginal at best. Keep this away from the kids, as Sandler talks like a golfing sailor. {BB}

Added: June 6th 2005
Reviewer: BB
29 Point Scale Score:    [11]

Related Link (IMDB): IMDB
Hits: 2016
Language: english