Happy Gilmore
A good number of movie comedy stars, despite the fact that their movies make money at the box office, nonetheless have an absolutely abysmal track record when it comes to the actual QUALITY of their movies, starring in one unfunny yuckfest after another where the comedy actorās allegedly endearing and goofy personality are expected to carry the show and little else. The one thing that most of these washout types can claim though, is the achievement of having made only just one GREAT comedy at some point in their run, one that not only can they hang their hat on, but one which in and of itself might be regarded as a true comedy classic for all time. Thatās certainly the case for Adam Sandler, whose series of movies where he always plays a braying, knuckleheaded moron has driven discriminating comedy fans to start looking for a can of Drano at about the 10 minute mark of any one of them. But yet he does have one film on his resume that, despite being made almost 20 years ago, stunned the world by turning out to be a comedy masterpiece and remains his calling card today. That would be this 1996 release, modestly described as perhaps the second best golf movie ever made behind only Caddyshack, and features some truly outlandish, insane bits of humor, a solid supporting cast, the undisputed greatest cameo performance in the history of movie comedy, and a comedy villain performance that actually manages to steal the show outright. But first things first. Sandler stars as a goofball punk whose boyhood dream has always been to be a hockey player, but unfortunately he canāt skate and doesnāt know how to handle a puck, but he does possess one thing, and that is a thunderous slap shot. He is also a bit of a loose cannon, prone to losing his temper and grabbing people to engage in (hockey style) fights, which doesnāt win him many friends and supporters. When he once again gets turned down by the local minor league hockey team during tryouts (and beats up the coach in reaction), shortly after he discovers quite by accident that when he hits a golf ball with a driver club, he can send the ball flying a near record distance, which leads to him spending time at the local driving range, getting him noticed and attracting the attention of former golf pro Chubbs Peterson (Carl Weathers, happily relaxing and having fun since his Rocky days), who gives him some tips and sets him up in an amateur tournament with the winner getting to go on The Pro Tour. And after a winning performance (including a hole in one on a par four), itās off he goes, motivated by the tax foreclosure on his sweet old grandmotherās house and determined to make enough prize money to buy it back. Of course, it isnāt long before Happy, with his tempermental personality that compels him to go on long profanity laced tirades whenever he screws up a shot, starts getting noticed and even better, develops a fan following for his overgrown kid, every day asshole brand of personality that results in a new breed of fan following for the sport, and since Happy himself is the type of guy who walks around at high class country club functions wearing an AC/DC concert shirt and nonchalantly hires a homeless bum to be his caddy just to give the guy something to do, so does he attract a crowd of rock n roll, heavy metal type people to attend the tournaments he plays at. Sandler has a long history of being annoying and unlikable when playing these types of characters, but what makes him so likable and easy to root for here is the emergence of his rival and the filmās main antagonist in Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin, a guy whom in the world of professional golf, is the most āestablishmentā type of person imaginable, a super smarmy asshole well trained at spouting phony platitudes of positivity for the TV cameras while behind closed doors being a petty, insecure dickhead as he sees the mainstream media attention surrounding Gilmore and his antics all while the only thing he cares about is winning the so called āgold jacketā at the Pros Championship. McDonald (a guy who can understatedly be described as a constantly working character actor) hits it out of the park here in such a way that he gained a huge fan following from just this one role, what with his dignified snob throwing hilariously childish temper tantrums, his ever more elaborate schemes to derail Gilmoreās run on the tour (including actually buying Happyās grandmaās foreclosed house, an especially insidious move that lands him straight into the Asshole Villain Hall Of Fame), and the utter contempt he shows for all the ācommon peopleā who show up to watch Gilmore play, McDonald does the impossible and makes us root for and cheer on Adam Sandler in a movie in a way that few could have ever imagined being possible, even forcing most of us to forget Ted Knightās Judge Smails as being amongst the greatest snob villains. Some of the more pleasant, inoffensive moments like Gilmoreās romance with the PGA tourās PR girl (Julie Bowen) are offset by other wild pieces of business, like the aforementioned cameo for the ages by game show host Bob Barker, paired up with Gilmore in a celebrity Pro-Am tournament, and getting on Gilmoreās nerves so much that an all out brawl breaks out between the two, with seventy something Barker trading shots with thirty something Sandler, and we get the amazing sight of the longtime beloved host of The Price Is Right actually talking shit. That Comedy Hall Of Fame scene notwithstanding, it all comes down to the final tournament battle between Happy and Shooter, two unforgettable characters (although one is definitely more enhanced by our dislike of the other) going at it with the smack talking getting pretty damn thick while these two settle their differences with the world watching. Again, proof positive that having the right bad guy, the right setting and premise, and being lucky enough to have all the right components fall into place can make for an All Time Comedy Masterpieceā¦
10/10