Midweek Mention... Happy Gilmore

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Welcome back to Bad Dads Film Review , where this week we’re dusting off the golf clubs and heading to the green for one of Adam Sandler’s most beloved and chaotic comedies: Happy Gilmore . Directed by Dennis Dugan and released in 1996, this sports-comedy cult classic swings hard with juvenile gags, unexpected heart, and more fistfights than you’d ever expect in a golf movie.

Happy Gilmore (Sandler) is a failed hockey player with a temper problem and a surprisingly powerful slapshot. After discovering that his unique (and deeply unorthodox) swing can drive a golf ball the length of a football field, he stumbles into the PGA tour—not out of love for the sport, but to raise money to save his beloved grandmother’s house from foreclosure.

But golf, as it turns out, is full of smug pros, snooty country clubs, and unspoken rules. Happy’s arrival—complete with loud trousers, foul language, and literal wrestling moves—ruffles feathers, especially with tour golden boy Shooter McGavin (a scene-stealing Christopher McDonald), who quickly becomes Happy’s nemesis.

With the help of former pro Chubbs Peterson (Carl Weathers, complete with a wooden hand) and love interest/publicist Virginia Venit (Julie Bowen), Happy sets out to conquer golf in his own anarchic way. There’s also an unforgettable appearance from Bob Barker—yes, that Bob Barker—in one of the most unexpected and hilarious cameos in movie history.

Happy Gilmore is probably best suited to older kids and teens thanks to the language and violence (including a man being hit by a Volkswagen and another being mauled by an alligator). But for grown-up kids of the ’90s, it’s a nostalgic gem that still delivers laughs—often in spite of itself.

It’s not highbrow, it’s not subtle, and it’s certainly not refined, but it knows exactly what it is: a hilarious, scrappy underdog sports comedy with a foul mouth and a huge heart.

Happy Gilmore is loud, juvenile, and a little bit stupid—and that’s exactly why it works. It’s a goofy celebration of doing things your own way, sticking it to pompous gatekeepers, and punching your way to success… even on the golf course. Fore! ⛳️👊👨‍👧‍👦🍿

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