Happy Gilmore [WS] [Special Edition]

Director: Dennis Dugan

Overview

Adam Sandler's second popular starring vehicle after Billy Madison is a goofy lowbrow paean to golf, hockey, and the comic hysterics of its childlike star. In Happy Gilmore, Sandler plays the title character, a raw, determined, but ultimately untalented hockey player who keeps trying out for the pros. When Happy discovers his grandmother (Frances Bay) will lose her home if she doesn't fork over 270,000 dollars to the IRS, he tries to figure out how he can possibly scrounge up the cash. An idea strikes during a game of one-upmanship with a couple furniture movers stripping his grandmother's home: On his first-ever swing, he drives a golf ball farther than the movers have ever seen. Before long, he has transplanted the foul-mouthed, aggressive persona of the hockey rink to the links, winning an amateur tourney that earns him a spot on the pro tour. Throttling everyone from a helpless caddy to game show host Bob Barker during the course of his 90-day quest to amass prize money, Happy also wins the sport a legion of new fans with his in-your-face style. Guiding him on his quest is a whimsical retired pro who lost his hand to an alligator (Carl Weathers) and an attractive public relations woman charmed by Happy's antics (Julie Bowen). Opposing him, however, is sneering hotshot Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), who will do anything to win his championship jacket and see Happy fail.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/23/2005
UPC:	0025192544224
Original Release:	1996
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	5,139

Special Features

Includes 20 minutes of outrageous deleted scenes, featuring At Grandma's House, Happy on Tour, Nursing Home and much, much more!; Wacky, gut-busting Outtakes that will surely tickle your funny bone!

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Christopher McDonald	Shooter McGavin
Frances Bay	Grandma
Carl Weathers	Chubbs
Allen Covert	Otto
Kevin Nealon	Potter
D.J. Jackson	Mover
Jared Van Snellenberg	Happy's Waterbury Caddy
Ken Camroux-Taylor	Coach(as Ken Camroux)
Rich Elwood	Assistant Coach
Nancy Hillis	Terry(as Nancy McClure)
Helena Yea	Chinese Lady
Will Sasso	Mover(as William Sasso)
Dee Jay Jackson	Mover
Ellie Harvie	Registrar
Ian Boothby	Guy on Green
Andrew Johnston	Crowd Guy - Waterbury
John Shaw	Daniel Lafferty
Edward Lieberman	Pro Golfer
Peter Kelamis	Potter's Caddy
Simon Webb	Doctor

Technical Credits

Dennis Dugan	Director,Director
Bernie Brillstein	Executive Producer,Executive Producer
Brad Grey	Executive Producer,Producer
Sandy Wernick	Executive Producer
Robert Simonds	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Adam Sandler plays more of a grown-up in Happy Gilmore than he did in Billy Madison, but only in the sense that his tantrums are laced with rage and obscenity rather than infantile brattiness. These brusque qualities will further irritate his detractors while giving his fans another generous dollop of the comedian's hyperkinetic schtick. But Happy Gilmore has pleasures beyond the golf-ball-to-the-noggin variety, because it works as a fairly sturdy sports movie that finds the tricky balance of simultaneously mocking golf and glorifying it. That golf and hockey might involve essentially the same skill set, applied quite differently, enables the agreeable premise that a transplant from that aggressive venue might achieve some success with its more genteel cousin, while still keeping the rink's head-butting mentality. Sure, this is mostly just an excuse for vulgar, bone-crunching comedy, but it allows at least one classic episode of absurdism, in which Sandler gets into a trash-talking brawl with Bob Barker, the surprisingly agile 73-year-old game show host. That Happy putts with his hockey stick and launches his golf balls like whizzing cruise missiles (cleverly shot from their accelerating perspective) makes for effective crossover, blending the subtle precision of golf with the electrifying force of hockey, and winning converts to both sports. Still, Sandler himself wouldn't win many converts outside his own fan base until he aimed for a more tepid middle ground in The Wedding Singer.