Happy Gilmore

Happy Gilmore
Directed by Dennis Dugan
Produced by Robert Simonds
Written by Tim Herlihy
Adam Sandler
Starring
Music by Mark Mothersbaugh
Cinematography Arthur Albert
Edited by Jeff Gourson
Steve R. Moore
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
 February 16, 1996 (1996-02-16)
Running time
 92 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $12 million
Box office $41.2 million[1]

Happy Gilmore is a 1996 American sports comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan with music by Mark Mothersbaugh and produced by Robert Simonds. It stars Adam Sandler as the title character, an unsuccessful ice hockey player who discovers a talent for golf. The screenplay was written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy. The film was released in cinemas on February 16, 1996 by Universal Pictures. Happy Gilmore was a commercial success, earning $41.2 million on a $12 million budget. This film was the first of multiple collaborations between Sandler and Dugan. The film won an MTV Movie Award for "Best Fight" for Adam Sandler versus Bob Barker.

Plot

Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) is an aspiring ice hockey player who possesses a powerful and dangerous slapshot that his father (Louis O'Donoghue) taught him as a child (Donnie MacMillan) before he was apparently struck and killed by a wayward hockey puck, though his over aggressive streak (which once resulted in him trying to stab a guy to death with an ice skate) and lack of skating talent consistently preclude him from joining a hockey team. His girlfriend Terry (Nancy McClure), a schoolteacher, leaves him because of his hockey obsession.

His grandmother (Frances Bay) has not paid her taxes for many years. As such, she owes the IRS $270,000 in back taxes, and the house is about to be seized. Gilmore has only 90 days to come up with the money or else the house will be auctioned off. Grandma Gilmore is forced to temporarily move into a retirement home, run by a sadistic manager named Hal (Ben Stiller in an uncredited role). While repossessing Grandma's furniture, a pair of movers challenge Happy to hit golf balls. With his unorthodox, hockey slapshot-style swing, Happy hits the ball 400 yards three times, winning $40 as a result and starts hustling golfers with his swing at the driving range, leading former golf star and current club pro Chubbs Peterson (Carl Weathers) to convince Happy to enter a local tournament for a chance to win "big bucks". Peterson is known for losing his right hand to an alligator during his career. Happy wins the tournament and earns a spot on the Pro Golf Tour. Eager to start earning money to save Grandma's house, Happy rejects Chubbs's advice to wait 6 months so that he can work with Happy to improve his performance.

On the tour, Happy encounters Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), who sees Happy as both a detriment to golf and a threat to his career. Although Happy has a powerful drive, his putting is terrible, and his violent outbursts and lack of golf etiquette quickly attract the notice of Commissioner Doug Thompson (Dennis Dugan) who wants to expel him from the tour, but PR head Virginia Venit (Julie Bowen) convinces him to reconsider, citing higher television ratings, increasing attendance, drawing more youthful sponsors, and that she's willing to work with Gilmore on his anger issues. Thompson threatens to fire her as well if there are any further incidents. Under Virginia's tutelage, Happy begins to improve his performance and behavior and becomes an instant celebrity.

During a pro-am tournament with then-host of The Price Is Right Bob Barker, he gets distracted by an insulting fan named Donald (Joe Flaherty), causing Barker and Happy to lose the tournament and get into a brawl. Barker wins the fight, but it's revealed that Shooter hired Donald to distract Happy and get him kicked off the tour. Thompson has a meeting with Happy, Virginia, and Shooter about the incident, and Happy tries to explain his conduct. Thompson says that due to the high TV ratings of the tournament, he cannot justify kicking Happy off the tour, but nevertheless issues him a one-month suspension and a $25,000 fine. Happy tries to plead his case about Grandma's house, but is sent away by an angry Thompson.

While under suspension, Happy becomes a spokesperson for Subway and earns enough money to get Grandma's house back, but not before the house is auctioned off and won by Shooter who manages to outbid him. Happy makes a bet with his rival based on the outcome of the upcoming Tour Championship; if Happy wins, he gets Grandma's house back, but if Shooter defeats him, he will quit the tour. He then seeks the help of Chubbs, admitting his past mistakes and the two head to a miniature golf course. Happy makes great progress with Chubbs teaching him to go to his 'happy place' when he cannot calm down.

That night, Chubbs gives Happy one of his prized irons as an improvement gift, and Happy reciprocates with a gift of his own. Chubbs then opens a large box containing the head of the alligator that took his hand, which Happy killed during one of his golf tournaments. Upon seeing the creature, Chubbs screams in terror and reels backwards out of a window to his death.

Determined to win the tournament for Chubbs, Happy is evenly matched with Shooter after the first two rounds and leads Shooter by the end of the third day. On the fourth and final day, multiple unusual scenarios occur between both Happy and Shooter, with the latter losing after the former succeeds in a trick shot learned from Chubbs at the miniature golf course. Afterwards, an angry and hysterical Shooter attempts to steal Happy's gold jacket, but is chased down by an angry mob of spectators. Back at Grandma's house, the film closes with Happy being congratulated by the two-handed ghost of Chubbs, Abraham Lincoln, and the alligator.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

On the film review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, they received a 60% rating based on 52 reviews with a consensus review of "Those who enjoy Adam Sandler's schtick will find plenty to love in this gleefully juvenile take on professional golf; those who don't, however, will find it unfunny and forgettable."[2] On Metacritic, It holds a 31% rating based on 14 reviews, indicating "Generally unfavorable reviews." [3] Brian Lowry of Variety stated that "The general tone nevertheless makes it difficult to elevate the gags beyond an occasional chuckle". Lowry only noted a few scenes he found inspired, including the fight scene with Bob Barker and when Happy attempts to find his "Happy Place" which was described as "Felliniesque".[4] Roger Ebert gave the film one and a half stars out of four, stating that Adam Sandler's character "doesn't have a pleasing personality: He seems angry even when he's not supposed to be, and his habit of pounding everyone he dislikes is tiring in a PG-13 movie". Ebert also noted the film's product placement stating that he "probably missed a few, but I counted Diet Pepsi, Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Subway, Budweiser (in bottles, cans, and Bud-dispensing helmets), Michelob, Visa cards, Bell Atlantic, AT&T, Sizzler, Red Lobster, Wilson, Golf Digest, the ESPN sports network, and Top-Flite golf balls".[5]

Ratings effect

The scene with Barker beating up Gilmore increased ratings for The Price Is Right in the younger demographics. Bob claimed every day someone in the audience asked him about Happy Gilmore. The show's producers had previously tried but failed to appeal to a younger demographic with a syndicated variation of the game, hosted by Doug Davidson.

Box office

The film was a commercial success, ranking #2 at the US box office on its debut weekend with $8.5 million in revenue. The film was made for $12 million and grossed a total of $41.2 million worldwide, with $38.8 million of that at the North American domestic box office.[1]

Legacy

Golf.com, Consequence of Sound and Golf Digest discussed the film, predominantly praising the villain Shooter McGavin.[6] [7][8] Other articles have covered relatively unknown trivial facts such as Carl Weathers's missing arm, which was the same arm from the movie Predator and the number of times nurse orderly Hal committed nursing home abuse.[9][10]

Awards

Adam Sandler earned a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actor for the film.

The film was nominated for a Sound Effects award; foley artists spent over 40 hours designing, improving, and perfecting the sound of Adam Sandler’s golf swing.

The film won an MTV Movie Award for "Best Fight" for Adam Sandler versus Bob Barker.

Pop culture references

In 2015, Adam Sandler and Bob Barker performed a sketch as part of "Comedy Central's Night of Too Many Stars" (in support of Autism Awareness). In the sketch, the two engage in another fight similar to the one in the movie this time in a hospital. The end of the sketch has the two fighting in heaven, with Carl Weathers (as Chubbs) criticizing Sandler (calling him Happy) then quickly relenting and telling him to "kick his (Barker's) ass." The alligator and Lincoln are also seen.

References

  1. 1 2 "Happy Gilmore". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  2. ↑ "Happy Gilmore". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  3. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/movie/happy-gilmore
  4. ↑ Lowry, Brian (February 19, 1996). "Happy Gilmore". Variety. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  5. ↑ Ebert, Roger (February 16, 1996). "Happy Gilmore". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Happy Gilmore Turns 20: In Praise of Shooter McGavin". 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
  7. ↑ Myers, Alex. "Shooter McGavin is still winning tournaments, is now officially the best villain ever - Golf Digest". Retrieved 2016-08-23.
  8. ↑ "Tiger Woods Takes Selfie With Shooter McGavin". Retrieved 2016-08-23.
  9. ↑ "12 Things You Didn't Know About Happy Gilmore". 2016-06-08. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  10. ↑ "4 Instances of Nursing Home Abuse In Happy Gilmore - J Antonio Tramontana - Personal Injury Attorney". 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
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