Happy Gilmore
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| Happy Gilmore | |
|---|---|
 original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Dennis Dugan |
| Produced by | Robert Simonds |
| Written by | Tim Herlihy Adam Sandler |
| Starring | Adam Sandler Carl Weathers Julie Bowen Allen Covert Frances Bay Christopher McDonald |
| Distributed by | Universal Studios |
| Release date(s) | February 16, 1996 |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million |
| IMDb profile | |
Happy Gilmore is a 1996 American sports comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and starring Adam Sandler.
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[edit] Plot
Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) is an aspiring ice hockey player who masters a powerful slapshot that his late father taught him as a child. However, his aggression and poor skating ability render it impossible for him to make any hockey team. His grandmother (Frances Bay), with whom he's lived almost all his life due to an unfortunate hockey related incident which killed his father, has not paid taxes on her home for several years. As such, she owes $270,000 to the IRS and the house that Happy's grandfather "built with his bare hands" is about to be seized. A pair of movers challenge Happy to shoot golfballs and he hits 400 yards three times. After making $40, Happy goes to the local country club to make money. When a one-handed ex-golf pro Chubbs Peterson (Carl Weathers) sees Happy's shot, he convinces Happy to join the PGA Tour.
Aspiring Tour winner Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald) sees Gilmore as a threat, and tries to thwart any attempt of his to steal his thunder. Although his golf game and his manners on the green aren't rounded (his driving is excellent but he has trouble when it comes to putting), Happy is guided by Chubbs and the tour PR head (Julie Bowen), who help him in finding his own way to win tournaments with a cooler head. Although his time on the course is jeopardized when he was goaded into attacking Bob Barker, Happy manages to make some extra money by signing an endorsement deal with Subway, thus earning the $275,000 he needs to buy back his grandmother's house.
Unfortunately, at the auction, he is outbid by Shooter McGavin, who offers Happy the house under the terms that he in exchange quits the tour. Happy initially accepts this offer, citing that his only goal was to save the house, but is persuaded to continue with his new golf career by the notion that his grandmother would rather see him succeed than have the house. Shooter agrees to give Happy the house if he beats him in the tour championship.
With some help from Chubbs and some lessons at the nearby miniature golf course, Happy improves his putting skills, but Chubbs subsequently dies in an accident. Determined to win the game for Chubbs, Happy goes head-to-head with Shooter, and- despite Shooter's attempts at sabotage, such as having a deranged fan drive onto the course and topple a TV tower in front of the last hole- wins the championship, thereby getting his grandmother's house back.
[edit] Cast
- Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore.
- Frances Bay as Happy Gilmore's Grandma.
- Julie Bowen as Virginia Venit.
- Carl Weathers as Chubbs Peterson.
- Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin.
- Ben Stiller as The Asylum Manager. (uncredited)
- Bob Barker as himself.
- Kevin Nealon as Gary Potter.
[edit] Reception
The film overall met with mixed reviews. Roger Ebert said "I guess we are supposed to like Happy Gilmore, yet as played by Sandler, he doesn't have pleasing personality". Rotten Tomatoes critics only gave the movie 55%,considering the film rotten.
The RT community gave the film 83%, considering it fresh. It was also placed at #97 on Bravo's 100 Funniest movies. Many Adam Sandler fans see this as the best movie Sandler has ever starred in along with Billy Madison, giving the film a strong cult following.
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- The golfer who continuously shakes his head in dismay during the film is Lee Trevino. His only spoken line is: "Grizzly Adams did have a beard."
- The final scene, where Happy sees the ghosts of Chubbs,the alligator that bit his hand off and Abe Lincoln waving to him, is a parody on the ending of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
- Verne Lundquist, who plays the Golf Channel commentator in the film, is a hole announcer for the The Masters Tournament, one of the major PGA tournaments, on CBS.
- PGA Golfer Mark Lye makes a cameo appearance during a cocktail party scene talking to Shooter McGavin and Happy Gilmore about The Tour Championship.
- Bob Barker credits his appearance in this movie for revitalizing interest (especially among college students) in The Price Is Right.
- During a 2007 CBS prime-time special honoring Barker's 50th anniversary in television, the clip of the fight from the movie was played. Afterward, Sandler made a surprise appearance to thank Barker and read a poem in his honor.
- NHL stars Vincent Lecavalier and Joe Sakic make cameo appearances as players at the hockey tryouts.
- Richard Kiel has trouble standing (due to his acromegaly and also due to his sense of balance being affected by a head injury sustained in a car accident in 1992), so he had to use a cane in most scenes. However, in two scenes, he could not use the cane because of the "tough-guy" circumstances. In one scene, he simply leaned upon an extra as he was being shot. In the other, the scene calls for him to run after Christopher McDonald. However, since he could not, he was placed upon a cart and wheeled. He was then shot only from the waist-up and moved his arms in a running-like fashion.[citation needed]
- Sandler's movies have love interests with identical initials. Virginia Venit is the love interest in this film whilst Veronica Vaughn is the love interest in Billy Madison, Vicki Vallencourt is Bobby Boucher's love interest in The Waterboy and Valerie Veran is Nicky's girlfriend in Little Nicky.
- Judd Apatow, being a close friend of Adam Sandler, reviewed early drafts of the screenplay and contributed to at least one of its rewrites.
[edit] External links
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