Welcome to The Sandlerverse where it's Adam Sandler all the time. Through this week's article, we will be taking a look at Happy Gilmore, a Sandler movie that came out in 1996. If you don't know how these articles work here is a brief explanation. We will be taking a look at every Adam Sandler movie and judging them each in three different categories: The plot, the comedic value, and the side celebrities that help Sandler out in the movie. Each of these will be rated of a score out of ten . Then the movie will be given a grand total score out of thirty. Now let's just see if this Happy Gilmore movie will make us happy or make us mad.
Our first stop is the meat and bone of this movie the plot, there will be spoilers. I would like to introduce this little thing that I call the Sandler Equation, which in a majority of his films this will apply. The equation goes like this: quirky underdog meets a hot, attractive babe but some unfunny bullies try to stop underdogs ways the underdog has help from his quirky sidekick and or grandma help him on his path to stand up to said bully. In this story, Happy Gilmore (quirky underdog), played by Adam Sandler, was taught to play hockey by his dad and loved it . Ever since he was a kid, he wasn't really good at hockey besides his power shot. Once his mom moved, because his dad loved hockey more than life itself, and his dad died. He moved in with his grandma. Which puts us up to current day where he tries out for this major league hockey team . He's just terrible and has a slight anger problem. He goes back home after failing just to find out that his grandma forgot to pay taxes for the last 20 years; so the IRS is trying to take all her stuff away. 'Happy' can get it back, he just has to pay the money off within a month. So, he unknowingly puts his grandma in a secret sweatshop nursing home. He learns he can make a lot of money just by hitting a golf ball with his power shot. So, he decides to join a tournament and gets put on the circuit after winning. with the help of his instructor 'Chubs' to help him on his short game. He needs him because of his anger management towards the game. During these games he meets (hot attractive babe ) Virginia Vident which he eventually dates. He also goes against (Bully ) Shooter Mcgavin which he absolutely hates Happy.Well after winning enough tournaments he eventually gets to the point of getting his grandmother home back, but only after he gets suspended from the circuit for the month due to punching a celebrity. Once he gets back to the house, we find out that it has been put up for auction and the person who buys it is Shooter Mcgavin who has been trying to get Sandler off the circuit this entire time. He makes a bet: if Sandler can beat him in the final tournament then the house is his , however if Happy loses he must never play. During prepping for the big day, 'Chubs' dies do to Sandler scaring him to death after bringing the alligator 's head that bit off chubs hand when he played . Finally, the final tournament, where Sandler and Mcgavin are neck and neck the entire time Happy gets hit with a car by one of Mcgavin lackeys . Happy falls behind but eventually catches up. On the last hole he makes a nearly impossible shot and wins the entire thing, he gets to kiss the girl, get the jacket(after mcgavin tries stealing it ) gets his house back, and the credits roll. Overall its a solid movie something that was innovative for Sandler at the time it made a lot of people . Good job on the writers at Happy Madison productions for this one.
Next let's look at the comedic value of this movie. "Happy Gilmore" has the best kind of Adam Sandler comedy and what he's best at. It can be him punching a celebrity in the face, or Sandler being run over by a Volkswagen, it's a lot of physical comedy and is very low brow. That's Sandler's type of comedy and it's what he's best at.It was one was really great for when this movie was out and very critically acclaimed for its comedy its where he started and whats he's best at until he gets repetitive with it. Every character in this movie is hilarious. There's not much more to say about comedy portion.
Our final stop will be celebrity's that helped Sandler throughout this movie, There are only two celebrities I would like to talk about. They are Bob Barker, surprisingly, and Ben Stiller . Bob Known for being on "The Price is Right" plays himself, oddly, as Sandler's caddie for the celebrity tournament, and he gets pissed off at Sandler's terrible game. So, Sandler's anger kicks in and they fight. Bob beats the living crap out of him. That's the last we see of Bob .Lastly, we see Ben Stiller best know for his comedic movies like "Zoolander". He is the leader of the secret sweatshop nursing home. Every time he came on screen, I laughed at what he had to say or what he did. The celebrities at the time were picked pretty good . Great job producers!
Throughout, I wrote about how 'Happy' made me happy. Now, it's time for the results. The story I gave a 9 outta 10. The story is good, but I feel that they can blend it a little bit better together. The next category will be comedic value, which I gave a 9.5 outta 10. They were great jokes but the story made it make it work a little bit more. Finally, the guest appearances, I gave a 10 /10. The celebrities they chose were great for the time. So, overall, I give it a 28.5 /30. It's a really fantastic movie that I would recommend to everyone. Now, for next week edition of the Sandlerverse, we will be taking a look at another one of Sandler's greats: "Billy Madison"
