Happy Gilmore (1996)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Dennis Dugan

Writers (WGA):

Tim Herlihy (written by) &
Adam Sandler (written by)

Release Date:

16 February 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

He doesn't play golf... he destroys it.

Plot:

A rejected hockey player puts his skills to the golf course to save his grandmother's house.

Plot Keywords:

Hockey | Golf | Grandmother's House | Golf Course | Tournament

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Adam Sandler	...	Happy Gilmore
Christopher McDonald	...	Shooter McGavin
Julie Bowen	...	Virginia Venit
Frances Bay	...	Grandma
Carl Weathers	...	Chubbs
Allen Covert	...	Otto
Robert Smigel	...	IRS Agent
Bob Barker	...	Himself
Richard Kiel	...	Mr. Larson
Dennis Dugan	...	Doug Thompson
Joe Flaherty	...	Jeering Fan
Lee Trevino	...	Himself
Kevin Nealon	...	Potter
Verne Lundquist	...	Announcer
Jared Van Snellenberg	...	Happy's Waterbury Caddy

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language and some comic sexuality.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Netherlands:MG6 (video premiere) | Iceland:L | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Sweden:11 | South Korea:12 | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) (Canadian Home Video rating) | USA:PG-13 (No. 34362) | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 (video premiere) | Germany:6 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Company:

Brillstein-Grey Entertainment

Trivia:

Early in the movie, Chubbs tells Happy he could win a gold jacket, to which Happy responds, "Gold jacket, green jacket, who gives a shit?" This is a reference to The Masters, one of the four major tournaments of the PGA tour (the others being the US Open, the Open Championship, and the PGA Championship) where the winner gets a green jacket.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: There is a dream sequence at the end where Chubbs is alive and playing the piano and singing. The initial camera angle shows Chubbs playing and then pans so you can no longer see the keys. Chubbs then raises up his hands to show that his natural hand has returned. However, despite having both hands off the piano keys, we can still hear the piano being played.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[opening narration voice over]
Happy Gilmore: My name is Happy Gilmore. Ever since I was old enough to skate, I loved hockey. I wasn't really the greatest skater though. But that didn't stop my dad from teaching me the secret of smacking his greatest slap shot.
[Young Happy, hits a hard plastic ball into his father's forehead]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kanye West: College Dropout - Video Anthology (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Tuesday's Gone

To Be Remembered Forever: 'Happy' And Bob Barker Trading Blows

A "pro" golfer duking it out with veteran game-show host Bob Barker right in the middle of a tournament. That scene alone makes this one of the more memorable comedies of the last 30 years. Almost everyone I know has either seen or heard of that scene and everyone laughs at it.

It IS ludicrous and that's what makes it so funny. In fact, most of the movie is totally preposterous, totally unbelievable and totally wacky, which is Adam Sandler's trademark in these comedies. He's low key but violent, as he was in Mr. Deeds, Punch-Drunk Love and a few other films.

Here, Sander is even more vocal and violent than normal and definitely more crude, which is saying something since this actor usually doesn't play guys with a lot of class. "Happy" is a hot-tempered hockey player who can hit a golf ball 400 yards so he tries his hand on the PGA tour to help raise money for his grandmother. I just shake my head even writing that last sentence, it sounds so stupid....but this is a stupid movie with an incredibly stupid story but is hilarious, for the most part.

Anyone who is a golfer would appreciate this movie more than others, because Sandler says and does things we'd all like to do on the links at times but, thankfully, don't. In short: this is a crude but very funny movie.