It’s been almost a quarter of a century now since audiences were treated to just how wacky and hilarious the comedic talents of Adam Sandler could truly get. Following on from his time on SNL and smaller roles in films like Steve Martin’s Mixed Nuts, Sandler quickly broke out on his own when he took the lead in Billy Madison, which became a huge hit. Quickly following it up in 1996 with his second hit comedy, Happy Gilmore, it was that film that helped propel him on his way to being the iconic star he is today.
With Sandler himself recently confirming the long-awaited sequel, Happy Gilmore 2, is indeed happening, fans are now gearing up for another hysterical ride with the beloved character. However, given how much time has passed since Sandler was at his peak for wild and impetuous comedy films, it’s not entirely a given anymore that such a film will automatically land well with today’s audiences.
After all, not only has the world changed vastly, but so has the political landscapes and societal attitudes in general when it comes to the ever-growing list of what’s deemed offensive or unacceptably inappropriate. Sandler himself is now a vastly changed actor, one who has shown his depth and true range.
He’s even toned down his recent comedy films, playing characters that are funny, but ultimately tamer, more dad-like figures instead. With Happy Gilmore being a classic example of how uninhibited his comedy films used to be, here’s a look at five ways the first film still holds up — and four ways it doesn’t. Stream Happy Gilmore on Netflix.
It Has Crass Comedy Without Going Overboard
After the success of films like Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, Adam Sandler famously went on to make a string of similarly hilarious, but indecorous comedies. Films like The Waterboy and Little Nicky, established Sandler as a hugely popular star, with a huge following. What made such films hysterically funny at times was how unapologetic and crass they could get. However, unlike raunchier sex comedies like Superbad or Road Trip, Sandler’s films like Happy Gilmore were always taken as more immature than overly racy.
Happy Gilmore Ultimately Had More Heart Than it Initially Lets on
Despite the crude nature of Happy Gilmore at times with its themes like elder abuse and Happy’s fast mouth, the film ultimately still had heart and never strayed into realms that made its comedy wholly unacceptable. To that end, at its heart, Happy Gilmore was still just a good but misunderstood person who only wanted to save his grandmother’s house.
It’s a Classic Underdog Story
The story sees Happy as a well-meaning guy with anger issues who nevertheless wants nothing more than to be a pro ice hockey player. By chance, he discovers he has an unorthodox talent for golf and when he learns his grandmother is going to lose her home, he enters a golf tournament and soon finds himself rising through the ranks as an outsider who may actually have a chance of winning.
The Underlying Theme Helps Bring Parity to the Immature Elements
As outlandish and borderline inappropriate as Happy Gilmore’s comedy could be, it still managed to retain the spirit of a film that could be classed as an underdog story. Regardless of whether its comedy has aged well or not, underdog stories are a timeless trope and never lose their relevance, making that element of the film one that definitely still holds up.
Once he established himself as a superstar actor with a massive global fan base and a string of hit films to his name, Adam Sandler has since gone on to spread his acting wings. In the last decade or so, his films like The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), Uncut Gems, and Hustle have proven Sandler’s true range. They’ve also garnered him plenty of acclaim, and went a long way in redefining him from the stereotyped persona he was known for in the days of Happy Gilmore.
While it may seem like the comedic actor has only recently begun branching out, as far back as films like Click from 2006, Sandler was already showing how his films could be imbued with poignant touches of drama.
His Films Have Transcended Generational Divides
While he’s still best known for his outlandish comedies, he’s managed to transcend generations, reinventing himself with newer audiences through films like his MurderMystery films and by showing great restraint, so his daughter could shine in You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.
The fact that he still manages to land well with generations that came after Happy Gilmore shows that the film itself still holds up as a whole. If it didn’t, chances are Sandler and Happy Gilmore would likely have been gobbled up by cancel culture by now.
Like many of Sandler’s wackiest films, no matter how inappropriate some of their humor could get, Happy Gilmore also utilized conventional romantic tropes to balance it out. Those same tropes are also evident in his films like The Waterboy, since Bobby Boucher still has a kind of, sort of, sweet romantic story with Vicky Valencourt amid its more crass elements.
In You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, arguably Adam Sandler’s most risqué comedy, Zohan’s romance with Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui) even tries to tenderize the film by weaving themes of peace between Israel and Palestine into the romantic angle.
Underlying Rom-Com Elements are Timeless
In Happy Gilmore, Julie Bowen’s character, Virginia, provides a rom-com element to the film that runs counter to its zany undercurrents. Conveyed as a sweet, kindhearted, and much more normal person than most in the film, she makes for the perfect love interest for Happy, who begins the film as a guy whose girlfriend leaves him for not being successful at ice hockey.
Underneath all his anger and rage, Happy is ultimately just a lovelorn man who just needed to meet the right women to bring out the best in him. The romantic angles interspersed among the film’s comedic scenes make for an underrated rom-com aspect that still holds up well all these years later.
It Has a Great Supporting Performance from Carl Weathers
When the world lost the great talent that was Carl Weathers in February 2024, outpourings of love and recognition for the actor began circulating on social media. It reminded us all what an iconic actor he was, and also what a familiar face he had grown to become through his many film appearances.
Back in 1996, one of those films was Happy Gilmore, where Carl Weathers played a great supporting part as Derick “Chubbs” Peterson, a former pro golfer who once had a tiff with an alligator and mentors Happy, but is later killed after a funny scene that ended with him falling out a window.
It Was a Role He Later Reprized in Another Adam Sandler Film
Carl Weathers’ performance and character landed so well with audiences that he actually reprized the role four years later when he again collaborated with Adam Sandler for Little Nicky. This time, Chubbs shows up in heaven as a dance instructor. Given his iconic role as Apollo Creed from the Rocky films, Weathers was an instantly recognizable face in Happy Gilmore, with his performance making for one that is now iconic and effortlessly still holds amid all the nostalgia still going around for the late icon.
Slapstick Humor Doesn’t Fly Much Anymore
Slapstick humor has been around for centuries and has been a staple of comedy films since the inception of Hollywood. Mostly based on physical comedy and exaggerated gestures to convey it, or scenes that involve deliberately overacted violence through mishaps, it’s a brand of humor that can often come across as childish or immature on film. While Adam Sandler films were once known for them, the comedy world, and even his own films, have mostly moved on from them.
Happy Gilmore Helped Cultivated an Image He No Longer Needs
Back when Happy Gilmore was first released, Adam Sandler had begun cultivating an image as a comedic actor whose films thrived on physical comedy, slapstick humor, and general immaturity. Now that the actor has grown and matured so much as an artist, his older films like Happy Gilmore often don’t resonate as much with their physical comedy.
Scenes from the film like letting baseballs from a pitching machine hit him, getting into a physical altercation with Bob Barker, and Chubbs’ alligator scenes, were all prime examples of how Adam Sandler often relied on slapstick and self-slapstick comedy angles in the film. While those may still have been funny in the ’90s, such scenes are far from universally considered funny anymore.
’90’s-Centric Themes Are Outdated Today
Given the time of its release in the mid ’90s, Happy Gilmore was perfectly suited to featuring many ’90s-centric elements that still made sense to audiences back then. Things like the allusions to the classic Game Show The Price is Right, by featuring one of its most famous hosts, Bob Barker, in the film, or throwbacks to members of the famous rock band KISS, all still made sense to viewers back then.
’90s Themes Have Lost Their Familiarity
Unfortunately, audiences born after the ’90s will probably miss the significance of such elements, given that it’s been too long now for any of them to still be relevant. Anyone born in the 21st century and watches Happy Gilmore for the first time likely won’t recognize any of its ’90s themes.
Shooter McGavin Is Kind of a Weak Villain
Christopher McDonald’s performance as Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore was central to its plot, since Shooter was the film’s main antagonist. Shooter was a pro golfer who never had much competition until Happy Gilmore showed up with all his antics and unconventional methods, and actually started beating him. Unscrupulous and vindictive, Shooter resorts to all sorts of underhanded tactics to try and make Happy lose.
He Was Actually Right Most of the Time
While Shooter’s actions fit a villain trope well, his other parts in the film actually made him a weak villain. To that end, he was initially loved by fans before Happy entered the fray, was a darling of the crowd at golf tournaments, famous, and as revered as any great golfer today. The things pointed out about Happy, like his inappropriate attire, general conduct, and modified club, were also all correct, since none of these things are allowed in professional golf.
He also gave Happy great advice when he tried to get him to enter driving competitions instead, since Happy’s power meant he could easily win such competitions, and would have won more than enough prize money through them to help his grandmother without needing to even play a full golf tournament. All in all, Shooter was a weakly drawn villain who never made much sense as one.
Sports Movies Don’t Perform Well Anymore
Back in the ’80s and early ’90s, sports films, and sports comedies like The Mighty Ducks films, Major League, or Space Jam, were all the rage and generally performed well with audiences. Happy Gilmore fit right in with them at the time, and, in fact, made for a refreshing sports comedy, since golf wasn’t often a sport used for such films.
There’s Been a Significant Drop in Popularity
Since the 2010s, there’s been a significant drop in the popularity of sports movies, whether comedies or not. This has led to a parallel drop in the number of them released since. As noted in a piece from The Ringer:
“One basketball movie a year might not sound like
that
unhealthy of a pace, but it’s a significant dropoff from the boom years of the ’90s. The pickings were even thinner earlier in this decade, when films like the 2012 Kevin Durant family fantasy
Thunderstruck
counted as highlights. All told, the number of significant, non-documentary basketball movies made in the past decade can be counted on two hands with some fingers left over. And other sports haven’t fared much better…”
The truth is that such movies just don’t seem to resonate as much with audiences as they used to. Perhaps it’s the fact that ’90s audiences were still a part of the generation who played more outside, and looked forward to sports more than scrolling through social media. Either way, films like Happy Gilmore aren’t that popular or relevant as a concept anymore — which is actually quite a shame, really.
