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:	15,226

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

Adam Sandler	Happy Gilmore
Christopher McDonald	Shooter McGavin
Julie Bowen	Virginia Venit
Frances Bay	Grandma
Carl Weathers	Chubbs
Allen Covert	Otto
Robert Smigel	IRS Agent
Bob Barker	Bob Barker
Richard Keil	Mr. Larson
Dennis Dugan	Doug Thompson
Joe Flaherty	Jeering Fan
Lee Trevino	Lee Trevino
Kevin Nealon	Potter
D.J. Jackson	Mover
Verne Lundquist	Announcer
Jared Van Snellenberg	Happy's Waterbury Caddy
Ken Camroux-Taylor	Coach
Rich Elwood	Assistant Coach
Nancy Hillis	Terry
Helena Yea	Chinese Lady
Will Sasso	Mover
Dee Jay Jackson	Mover
Ellie Harvey	Registrar
Ian Boothby	Guy on Green
Kimberly Restell	Crowd Girl - Waterbury
Fred Perron	Waterbury Heckler
Helen Honeywell	Crazy Old Lady
Paul Raskin	Starter #1 - Waterbury
William Samples	Starter #2 - AT&T
John Destry	Zamboni Driver
Jim Crescenzo	Shooter's AT&T Caddy
Brett Armstrong	Shooter's Tournament Caddy
Peter Kelamis	Potter's Caddy
John Shaw	Daniel Lafferty
Stephen Tibbetts	Pro Golfer
Ed Lieberman	Pro Golfer,Pro Golfer
Louis O'Donoghue	Happy's Dad
Lisanne Collett	Happy's Mom
Stephen Dimopoulos	Italian Guy
Douglas Newell	Starter #4 - Pro-Am
Frank L. Frazier	Blue Collar Fan
Zachary Webb	Batting Kid,Doctor
Mark Lye	Mark Lye
Betty Linde	Elderly Woman
Brent Chapman	Official
Jessica Gunn	Signed Chest Woman
Phillip Beer	Cowboy Joe
Fat Jack	Jack Beard
Michelle Holdsworth	Babe on Green
Charles L. Brame	Abe Lincoln
Elizabeth Duff	Golf Fan
Jack Giarraputo	Sportscaster
Brennan Kotowich	Boy
Michael Roberds	Shirtless 'H' Fan
Joe Sakic	Player at Hockey Tryouts
Ben Stiller	Hal L. - Orderly in Nursing Home
Valarie Trapp	Valarie Trapp
Heath Young	Golf Fan
Mark Mothersbaugh	Composer

Technical Credits

Timothy P. Herlihy

Adam Sandler

Dennis Dugan	Director,Director
Bernie Brillstein	Executive Producer,Executive Producer
Timothy P. Herlihy	Screenwriter
Adam Sandler	Screenwriter
Robert Simonds	Producer
Brad Grey	Producer,Executive Producer
Sandy Wernick	Executive Producer
Thom Brennan	Sound Effects
Patrick O'Sullivan	Sound Effects

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.