Happy Gilmore (1996) Review

“You’re gonna die clown!”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

You can find your calling in unfamiliar places and as long as you give it a chance, you’ll definitely appreciate it more as you live on.


PLOT


Happy Gilmore follows the titular protagonist who aspires to be a hockey player with a great slapshot, but his short temper & poor skating limited his professional prospects. Unfortunately, his mild mannered grandma (Frances Bay) owes $270,000 in back taxes to the IRS and must pay it back within 90 days of their house will be foreclosed. Until he can make the money, Happy puts her in the retirement home, Silver Acres Rest Home, unaware that the orderly Hal L. runs the place like a sweatshop. Happy slowly makes back the money by hustling golfers at a driving range with golf clubs that belonged to his late grandpa; This gets the attention of former golf player Chubbs Peterson, who lost his arm in an alligator attack. Chubbs encourages Gilmore to enter the Waterbury Open which’ll automatically earn him a spot in the PGA Tour. As he does, he hires a homeless man named Otto (Allen Covert) to be his caddy and despite his constant meltdowns over terrible putting skills, he becomes a fan favorite and improves television ratings. However, his anger improves with the help of talent relations head Virginia Venit, who he becomes romantically involved with. He also discontinues training with Chubbs due to his desperation to get the needed money for the house. The tour’s presumed arrogant Shooter McGavin would see him as so much of a threat that he bribed a guy named Donald (Joe Flaherty) to heckle him during a pro-am event, causing him to get in a fight with his celebrity partner Bob Barker. Fined 25,000 and suspended for one month, Happy makes up lost revenue with an endorsement deal from Subway. Despite having enough to pay off the taxes, he doesn’t stop the house being put up for auction in time. Shooter would then outbid him for the house out of spite and make a bet for the Tour Championship: If Shooter wins, Happy must quit golf but if he wins, he gets the house back. More determined than ever, he reaches out to Chubbs to help him improve his putting. It pays off when practicing at a miniature golf course. As a result of overtime improvement, Chubbs gifts him a custom putter in shape of a hockey stick. Gilmore tries returning the favor by gifting the head of the gator that took his hand, but he’d be so stunned that he’d fall out a window and die. Despite the grief of such an accident, Gilmore still goes through with the championship game following the funeral of his mentor. The day of the game, Shooter bribes Donald again, only for him to drive onto the course and run over Happy this time. Despite the pain, he’s encouraged by Grandma to keep going and he ties with McGavin. On the 18th & final hole, the game gets furthermore when the latter pulls off playing the ball off of the former’s ex boss Mr Larson (Richard Kiel) and he saves par with a long putt. Before Happy can take his shot, the television tower crashed by Donald collapses and falls onto the green which blocks the putt. Having to play it as it lies, he still sinks the putt for the win as he imagines the tower like the miniature golf course. Embarrassed, Shooter steals the Championship jacket until Larson leads a mob boss to beat him for it and take it back. The film ends with Happy moving his grandma back home and looks above the heavens seeing Chubbs congratulate him, alongside Abraham Lincoln and the gator he made peace with.


THOUGHTS


It can be hard for viewers to enjoy sports movies when they don’t even watch the subject of sports in advance, which is why having the stories as comedies make the experience all the more better because there’s no pressure to take it serious. I do not watch one bit of golf in my life, so this was new territory I have welcomed with open arms to this day because this was constantly hilarious upon each viewing. The idea of an amateur hockey player competing in golf is the right amount of absurd you can expect from any comedic spot and it works as long as you don’t take it too serious. Rules are bent like crazy when seeing a heckler get away with distracting players and I don’t think anyone expected Bob Barker kick so much ass or Ben Stiller make a savage orderly of Hal L. Simple yet effective moments like that do make the whole ordeal worthwhile, but the whole point of the movie that Director Dennis Dugan and co writer Tim Herlihy is making is to value authenticity in any piece of work you put your mind into. Co writer Adam Sandler becomes a national treasure when playing the protagonist because he makes him the everyday man you want to relate to. He’s someone who struggles to change things up, but comes around the more he focuses which he does for the greater good. He has his grandma’s back when making a mission to get her house back because she took care of him when his dad died and wasn’t ever gonna take her for granted if the house was lost. And on the bright side, he got help from people that genuinely cared. Carl Weathers was awesome as Chubbs because he brought the right amount of wisdom to teach him discipline, which he needed a whole lot of to be the winner he always wanted to be. It is a shame Happy’s good intentions got him killed on accident, but it’s obvious his death wasn’t in vein since he found enough inner peace to win. On the other hand, Julie Bowen was a welcome spot as well because Virginia was Happy’s polar opposite due to already having the restrain, yet is able to get how he feels, embracing his potential throughout. Happy likes her back because he’s moved someone looks past his anger. With all the acquaintances he’s made, it makes sense there’d be one person intimidated of him. Christopher McDonald makes an all timer of a villain as Shooter McGavin because he’s the ideal arrogant figure you can get out of a sportsman. As an athlete who paid his dues, he’s got the right to be annoyed he’s competing against someone who’s just gained incredible luck at his hands. Had he shared his irritation of the situation prior, you likely would be on his side but he takes it too far in buying Grandma’s house. So when Larson gets the jacket back from him, you just feel a big grin because he had it coming. While this surprisingly would not be the last time we’d see some of these characters, it is safe to assume people will note exactly how competitive golf is, but also how majestic it can be when you let it. I give this movie a fair amount of credit in bending reality, but there were a few moments that confused me storywise upon rewatching. Like from the top, Grandma's stuff shouldn't be moved out immediately if she still had 90 days. It didn't seem like Happy was gonna put it in his apartment, so I don't see what gives here. That's harder to believe than the IRS not pressing charges on Happy who threw an agent out the front door made of glass and the same can be said with him not knowing of the auction or having no explanation on how he afforded leaving Grandma in the care of a retirement home. And last time I heard, there's never been a 400 yard drive for a driving range. I know we need to see how good Happy is, but that's a stretch here. If I gotta get into continuity errors, the kid at batting range doesn't replug the machine after Chubbs unplugged it to get Happy's attention. I know it's funny to see the kid copy Gilmore's training technique for hockey, but they could've showing him plug it back in. Hell, Mr Larson should've been fined for damaging Shooter's club if he ain't gonna get kicked out of the field. The same can be said when Donald ran over Happy and damaged the tower if he ain't gonna be kicked out for heckling. I can buy Happy doesn't know all the rules for golf but if he's hanging out with Veronica, he should've known he'd be paired with a celebrity like Bob Barker. Lastly, the fact it took so long for the tower to be dealt with that Happy had to play it as it lied because crashing into a tower after a hit and run should not be taken that long. Ignore this, then you'll still have a good time throughout. In short, Happy Gilmore is up there with the many comedy classics due to embracing the inner madness that can occur in the sports world. If you dig sports and want a good laugh, check this out.