Henry Roth is a man afraid of commitment up until he meets the beautiful Lucy. They hit it off and Henry think he's finally found the girl of his dreams, until he discovers she has short-term memory loss and forgets him the next day.
Director:
Peter Segal
Stars:
Adam Sandler,
Drew Barrymore,
Rob Schneider
A workaholic architect finds a universal remote that allows him to fast-forward and rewind to different parts of his life. Complications arise when the remote starts to overrule his choices.
Director:
Frank Coraci
Stars:
Adam Sandler,
Kate Beckinsale,
Christopher Walken
After two of the devil's three sons escape Hell to wreak havoc on Earth, the devil must send his third son, the mild-mannered Nicky, to bring them back before it's too late.
Director:
Steven Brill
Stars:
Adam Sandler,
Patricia Arquette,
Harvey Keitel
A Hockey player wannabe finds out that he has the most powerful golf drive in history. He joins the P.G.A. tour to make some money to save grandma's house. The downside is that his hockey player mentality doesn't really go on the P.G.A. tour. Especially with the favorite to win the championship.Written by
Kevin Mitchell <kevin@mitchell.mdn.com>
At many points in the film, Chubbs can be seen wearing Lacoste clothing, obviously as a link to the fact he lost his hand to an alligator. See more »
Goofs
Grandma's bag disappears from under her nursing home bed. See more »
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]
See more »
Alternate Versions
In the NBC TV version, there are several changes. When Happy first sees Shooter before he plays golf the first time on the pro course, instead of saying "If I saw myself in those clothes I'd have to kick my own ass" he says "...my own butt." In the bar scene Happy says to Shooter about bieng on the Tour "...Now I got a new reason: kicking your head" instead of "...your ass." When Happy and Bob Barker fight, when Happy says "The price is wrong, bitch" the "bitch" is removed, among many other small changes in the film. See more »
Although it isn't the most incredible cinematic work to ever come out of Hollywood, it is understandable how Happy Gilmore is one of the mostly widely enjoyed comedies out there. It lacks a good story and has all of the trademarks of a standard Sandler movie, but it hits several areas of comedy that can please a lot of people with different comedic tastes.
The storyline is structured much like Billy Madison with Sandler starting off as a burnout and going through some trials to achieve a goal and beat a villain that comes up partway through. Several points of the story feature rather far-fetched outcomes to hopeless scenarios. The plot is pretty weak in its gradual development with Shooter McGavin, and the movie might have been better off without any plot, but even in comedies, there has to be some kind of plot.
None of the characters, like the storyline, have a whole lot of depth. Sandler's character has a much different personality from Billy Madison, but he, as always, has some goofy remarks, witty remarks, over the top antics, and spats of anger. Happy Gilmore is pretty much the character that all other Sandler characters are based off of. Grandma, Virginia, Chubbs, and Shooter McGavin have personality, but not arcs. Grandma losing her house is basically the driving force of the story, and we can see that she matters a lot to Happy. Virginia is primarily present to keep Happy from letting his hockey instincts get out of hand, and ends up as his girlfriend without realistic reason. Chubbs is a pretty likable character and is a rather pivotal besides. Shooter McGavin, while not an interesting villain like Heath Ledger's Joker or action movie villains, is still a great antagonist because of his ability to be such a hateable and passive-aggressive jerk. There are also a lot of small but memorable characters that Happy plays golf with or around, such as Bob Barker, his two caddy's, the obnoxious fan at the celebrity tournament, Mr. Larson, and the guy that talks about the golf ball's energy.
As I said before, the comedy reaches several regions, though it maintains a constant goofy and blatant feel. Some of it's crude, but not as much as in, say, Anger Management. There is a good balance of situational and verbal humor. Basically every character, big and small, that has a line brings some kind of comedy in their screen time. Even the golf channel announcers, who are scripted like real sports announcers, contribute humor. Probably what sets this movie apart is its ability to bring a diversity of comedy into each individual scene. Not everything in every scene will strike you as funny, but there will probably be a couple of laughs in each.
A quick word on the execution. The visual quality and cinematography with Happy's insane shots are nothing special, but somehow add to the general mood. The acting and scripting are debatable, as in most comedies, but you can tell that every actor fits their respective character.
Again, this is pretty much the prototypical Sandler comedy so if you have liked any of his other movies, apart from maybe Airheads, this should be at least somewhat enjoyable. It doesn't take a high IQ to appreciate, and can be seen under almost any circumstances. I would recommend watching it on a road trip if the audience isn't too young. If you don't mind a little ridiculousness, it's worth a rental. Overall Rating: 8.2/10.
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Although it isn't the most incredible cinematic work to ever come out of Hollywood, it is understandable how Happy Gilmore is one of the mostly widely enjoyed comedies out there. It lacks a good story and has all of the trademarks of a standard Sandler movie, but it hits several areas of comedy that can please a lot of people with different comedic tastes.
The storyline is structured much like Billy Madison with Sandler starting off as a burnout and going through some trials to achieve a goal and beat a villain that comes up partway through. Several points of the story feature rather far-fetched outcomes to hopeless scenarios. The plot is pretty weak in its gradual development with Shooter McGavin, and the movie might have been better off without any plot, but even in comedies, there has to be some kind of plot.
None of the characters, like the storyline, have a whole lot of depth. Sandler's character has a much different personality from Billy Madison, but he, as always, has some goofy remarks, witty remarks, over the top antics, and spats of anger. Happy Gilmore is pretty much the character that all other Sandler characters are based off of. Grandma, Virginia, Chubbs, and Shooter McGavin have personality, but not arcs. Grandma losing her house is basically the driving force of the story, and we can see that she matters a lot to Happy. Virginia is primarily present to keep Happy from letting his hockey instincts get out of hand, and ends up as his girlfriend without realistic reason. Chubbs is a pretty likable character and is a rather pivotal besides. Shooter McGavin, while not an interesting villain like Heath Ledger's Joker or action movie villains, is still a great antagonist because of his ability to be such a hateable and passive-aggressive jerk. There are also a lot of small but memorable characters that Happy plays golf with or around, such as Bob Barker, his two caddy's, the obnoxious fan at the celebrity tournament, Mr. Larson, and the guy that talks about the golf ball's energy.
As I said before, the comedy reaches several regions, though it maintains a constant goofy and blatant feel. Some of it's crude, but not as much as in, say, Anger Management. There is a good balance of situational and verbal humor. Basically every character, big and small, that has a line brings some kind of comedy in their screen time. Even the golf channel announcers, who are scripted like real sports announcers, contribute humor. Probably what sets this movie apart is its ability to bring a diversity of comedy into each individual scene. Not everything in every scene will strike you as funny, but there will probably be a couple of laughs in each.
A quick word on the execution. The visual quality and cinematography with Happy's insane shots are nothing special, but somehow add to the general mood. The acting and scripting are debatable, as in most comedies, but you can tell that every actor fits their respective character.
Again, this is pretty much the prototypical Sandler comedy so if you have liked any of his other movies, apart from maybe Airheads, this should be at least somewhat enjoyable. It doesn't take a high IQ to appreciate, and can be seen under almost any circumstances. I would recommend watching it on a road trip if the audience isn't too young. If you don't mind a little ridiculousness, it's worth a rental. Overall Rating: 8.2/10.