Happy Gilmore

All you want to know about Happy Gilmore

Happy Gilmore

original movie poster
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
Ben Stiller (uncredited)
Distributed by Universal Studios
Release date(s) February 16, 1996
Running time 92 minutes
Language English
Budget $10 million
Gross revenue $38,624,000.00

Happy Gilmore is a 1996 American sports comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and starring Adam Sandler as the title character.

Contents

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 Championship 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 (who wins the fight), 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, but if Happy loses he would have to quit golf.

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 involving Happy showing him the now dead head of the alligator that took his hand, causing him to stumble back in shock, straight through an open window. Determined to win the game for Chubbs, Happy goes head-to-head with Shooter. Despite Shooter's multiple attempts at sabotage (including a guy who repeatedly calls Happy a jackass (played by Joe Flaherty), and later hitting him with a Volkswagen Beetle, Happy wins the championship, thereby getting his grandmother's house back.

Cast

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 percent, considering the film rotten.

The Rotten Tomatoes community gave the film 83 percent, considering it fresh. It was also placed at #97 on Bravo's 100 Funniest movies.

Trivia

 Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2007)
  • 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."
  • PGA Golfer Mark Lye makes an appearance when he welcomes Happy to the pro tour at the cocktail party.
  • The final scene, where Happy sees the ghosts of Chubbs, the alligator that bit off Chubbs's hand off and Abe Lincoln waving to him is a parody on the ending of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
  • When Bob Barker was asked to do the fight scene with Sandler, Barker refused at first. He quickly changed his mind when the producers told him he would win the fight. Barker credits his appearance in the movie for revitalizing interest in "The Price is Right", especially among college students.
  • Joe Sakic makes a cameo appearance in the hockey tryout scene.[1]
  • On the DVD are several unshown scenes. One shows Happy returning to the old age home to confront the evil orderly, throwing him out of a window. In another, he gets a non-violent come-back on the guy heckling him on Shooter's orders by exposing his inability to play. This scene shows either an alternate or additional motive for the heckler to later attempt to mow down Happy with his car.
  • The movie has been the subject of many incidents on The Price Is Right, both in the Barker and Carey eras. Adam Sandler (not to be confused with the RTL Group producer on the show) appeared on-camera a few times in the Barker era, including in the final weeks of Season 35. Inspired by the movie, the Los Angeles Kings made an appearance in Season 37, complete with a Showcase featuring a fight scene where one Kings player throws another player into a boat (complete with pulling off the sweater) during a fight.
Sister project Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Happy Gilmore
  • The fight scene with Bob Barker was frequently shown on the big screen at Cleveland Lumberjacks games after fights during the game. The Lumberjacks were a minor league hockey team for the now-defunct International Hockey League.
  • The scene where Happy taunts the mover by saying "Holy shit! You got a hold of that one!" is a reference to Caddyshack, which Adam Sandler claims was a source of inspiration in his career.

External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Dennis Dugan

Problem Child (1990) • Brain Donors (1992) • Happy Gilmore (1996) • Beverly Hills Ninja (1997) • Big Daddy (1999) • Saving Silverman (2001) • National Security (2003) • The Benchwarmers (2006) • I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007) • You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Gilmore"

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