Plot
Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) is an aspiring ice hockey player who possesses a powerful and dangerous slapshot that his late father taught him as a child. However, Happy also possesses an overaggressive streak and lack of skating ability that preclude him from joining every team he tries out for. His grandmother (Frances Bay), who raised him after his father died, has not paid her taxes for many 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. Grandma Gilmore is forced to temporarily move into a retirement home run by the retirement home's unpleasant and cruel manager, Hal (Ben Stiller in an uncredited role). While repossessing Grandma's furniture, a pair of movers challenge Happy to hit golf balls, and his unorthodox hockey slapshot hits 400 yards three times, winning $40 as a result. This gives Happy the idea to go to the driving range to hustle golfers with his swing. When former golf star and current club pro Chubbs Peterson (Carl Weathers), whose pro golf career ended when his hand was bitten off by an alligator, sees Happy's shot, he convinces Happy to enter a local tournament by telling him he can make the money to buy back his grandmother's house. Happy wins the tournament and earns a spot on the Pro Golf Tour (fictionalized golf tour based on the PGA Tour). Chubbs advises Happy to hold off on joining the tour, so that Chubbs can make him a better all-around golfer. Against Chubbs' advice, Happy joins the tour immediately after learning he can make enough money to buy back Grandma's house.
On the tour, Happy makes an instant enemy of pretentious and arrogant star pro Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), who sees Happy as a detriment to golf and tries to thwart any attempt to steal his thunder. In addition, Happy discovers that although he has a powerful drive, his putting is terrible, and his violent outbursts and lack of golf etiquette cause him problems, which gives Shooter an opening to ask Doug Thompson (Dugan), the commissioner of the tour, to expel Happy. Happy's antics are garnering the tour's highest television ratings and bringing more fans into tournaments, and Shooter's request is denied. To help Happy cool down and start acting more professionally, tour PR head Virginia Venit (Julie Bowen) is assigned to him by the tour. In addition to a relationship forming between the two, Happy begins to develop a cooler head while continuing to improve in tournaments much to the chagrin of Shooter, who decides to take matters into his own hands and hire Donald, a mentally unbalanced fan of Shooter's (Joe Flaherty) to heckle Happy at the next tournament, the Pepsi Pro-Am, a tournament where tour pros team up with celebrities.
At the tournament, where Happy is paired with Bob Barker, then host/executive producer of the long-running CBS Daytime game show, The Price Is Right, Donald starts distracting and intimidating him by shouting out, "Jackass!", when he's taking his swing. He takes Happy's focus off his game so much that he plays terribly. Exasperated at Happy's poor performance, Barker even begins heckling him before they break into a full-scale brawl, which Barker wins and is also enough to have Happy suspended from the tour and fined $25,000. All is not lost as Happy secures an endorsement deal with Subway, which gives him enough money to buy back Grandma's house and pay the fine.
However, Happy discovers that the house is to be sold at an auction – something he did not know before. As a result, Happy is unable to make a high enough bid to win the auction. Happy then becomes infuriated as he sees that Shooter is now the owner of Grandma's house. Despite their rivalry, Shooter is willing to let Happy have the house back, but on one condition – that he quit the pro tour. Happy immediately agrees to quit but is talked out of it by Virginia, who tells him Grandma would rather see him succeed at life than have the house. Happy then decides to make a bet with his rival based on the upcoming Tour Championship – if Happy places higher than Shooter, he gets the house back, but if Happy finishes behind Shooter he'll leave the tour; Shooter agrees. Although Virginia is confident Happy will win, Happy isn't as sure and seeks the help of Chubbs. Happy finally admits his own mistakes and agrees to finally work with Chubbs. Together they head to a miniature golf course so Happy can improve his putting, which he does. For Happy's improved success, Chubbs gives Happy his slightly modified putter as a present to use for the tournament. As a token of his gratitude, Happy returns the favor to Chubbs: the head of the alligator that took his hand (which Happy had killed in an earlier tournament while retrieving his ball). The gift does not have the intent Happy planned on, as Chubbs is startled by it and stumbles back, causing him to fall out an open window to his death.
Cast
Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore, a young man who lives life wanting to be a professional ice hockey player. Due to his grandmother not paying her taxes, her house becomes repossessed. Happy intends to get the house back and starts playing golf in order to do so. He is the main protagonist.
Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin, an arrogant, cocky golfer who is the best on the Pro Golf Tour (fictionalized golf tour based on the PGA Tour). After Happy joins, he becomes jealous of the attention Happy receives, and shows his dislike of Happy being on the tour. He is the main antagonist.
Julie Bowen as Virginia Venit, a Public Relations Director for the PGT. She eventually becomes Happy Gilmore's love interest.
Frances Bay as Grandma Gilmore; she took Happy Gilmore in as a child when his mother left him and his father died. She is adored by Happy, who would do anything to keep her happy.
Carl Weathers as Chubbs Peterson, a pro golfer who was forced to retire early when his hand was bitten off by an alligator. He encourages Happy to take up golf and coaches him.
Allen Covert as Otto, a hobo who becomes Happy's caddy.
Kevin Nealon as Gary Potter, the eccentric PGT pro Happy plays with in his first tournament. Happy eventually beats him up due to his "bad advice".
Richard Kiel as Mr. Larson, Happy's towering former boss, who was shot in the head with a nail gun by Happy and later became one of his former employee's biggest fans.
Dennis Dugan as Doug Thompson, the commissioner of the Pro Golf Tour.
Joe Flaherty as Unruly Fan; known only as Donald, this fan of Shooter's is recruited by Shooter to heckle Happy at the Pro-AM, frequently calling him a jackass. He later hits Happy with his car at the Tour Championship.
Lee Trevino as Himself; appears in five scenes, usually to express disbelief at something that has happened. He only has one line in the whole film, letting Shooter know that Grizzly Adams had a beard.
Bob Barker as Himself, Happy's celebrity golf partner at the Pro-AM. Bob and Happy get into an argument after an unruly fan harrassed Happy during the Pro-AM. Bob and Happy threw punches and Bob was winning the fight. After Happy headshot Bob, Happy states: "The Price is Wrong, bitch" (Bobby, when the movie is shown on TV). After Happy state that, Bob choke Happy, wakes up and continue punching him. After Happy tries to get up, Bob kick Happy in the head and state: "I think you had enough, bitch".
Reception
Critical response
Happy Gilmore received mostly mixed reviews from critics. On the film ranking website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a score of 59% based on 51 reviews, as of 8 May 2011; the site's consensus states: "Those who enjoy Adam Sandler's schtick will find plenty to love in this gleefully juvenile take on professional golf; those who don't, however, will find it unfunny and forgettable.
Brian Lowry of Variety stated that "The general tone nevertheless makes it difficult to elevate the gags beyond an occasional chuckle". Lowry only noted a few scenes he found inspired, including the fight scene with Bob Barker and when Happy attempts to find his "Happy Place" which was described as "Felliniesque". Roger Ebert gave the film one and a half stars out of four, stating that Adam Sandler's character "doesn't have a pleasing personality: He seems angry even when he's not supposed to be, and his habit of pounding everyone he dislikes is tiring in a PG-13 movie". Ebert also noted the film's product placement stating that he "probably missed a few, but I counted Diet Pepsi, Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Subway sandwich shops, Budweiser (in bottles, cans, and Bud-dispensing helmets), Michelob, Visa cards, Bell Atlantic, AT&T, Sizzler, Wilson, Golf Digest, the ESPN sports network, and Top-Flite golf balls".
Box office
Happy Gilmore was a respectable box office hit, ranking #2 at the box office on its debut weekend with $8.5 million in revenue. In total, it made $41 million worldwide, with $38 million of that domestic.
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