MOVIE REVIEW: HAPPY GILMORE 2 (PG-13)
Grade: C+
After nearly three decades, the Sandman is back with a sequel that his biggest fans probably thought he’d never deliver. To call the original Happy Gilmore beloved would be a gross understatement. It’s a film that enjoyed moderate success upon release way back in 1996 but in the years since, it has been elevated to cult status. The question is, does Happy Gilmore 2 live up to the legacy of the movie that inspired it? Does it emerge as the Top Gun: Maverick of comedies? Does it serve as the ultimate many-years-later sports movie bookend, ala Rocky Balboa? In a nutshell, no. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a handful of dopey and altogether funny moments to offer along the way.
Happy Gilmore 2 opens shortly after the events of the original film. Shooter McGavin has been thrown into a mental institution and Happy Gilmore goes on to enjoy a monstrously successful run on the pro golf circuit. He even goes on to marry the woman of his dreams (played once again by the lovely Julie Bowen) and start a family with her. Yes, the world is Happy’s oyster. But then, in a stunning development which I’m still kind of shocked they decided to include in this comical film (no spoilers here), a misfortune caused by Happy’s game changes the trajectory of his life. Cut to several years later, the children are now grown, and a now retired-from-the-game Gilmore must figure out a way to come up with enough money to send his daughter to a prestigious dancing school in Europe. Reluctantly, Happy goes back to the game of golf but will he be able to retrieve his mojo and make the ultimate comeback?
Truth be told, a better title for this film might have been Unhappy Gilmore as a pivotal stretch of the film certainly finds our protagonist down in the dumps. That said, this is a Happy Gilmore sequel so it should come as absolutely no surprise that he won’t be down on his luck for too long.
One might be quick to point out that Happy Gilmore 2 suffers from three primary things; The over reliance of fan service, the obscene number of high-profile cameos, and the nearly two-hour runtime (the first film was closer to a more manageable 90 minutes.) On the other hand, there’s no way a sequel to Happy Gilmore wasn’t going to unload a plethora of callbacks and there was certainly no way they would give us fewer cameos than the first movie had to offer.
As for the story, it’s often messy and sometimes plays more like a TV movie (no surprise given that this film skipped theatrical altogether and went straight to Netflix as part of Sandler’s multiyear, multi-gazillion dollar deal with the streaming giant) but again, it isn’t without a handful of goofy laughs along the way. Be it the moments where Happy repeatedly gets his drink on from the most seemingly bizarre of hiding places to all of the silly prat falls to the outbursts of uncontrollable anger, it’s all there and I did find myself chuckling despite the inconsistent and often random nature of it all.
It certainly helps that I simply enjoy spending time with Happy because Sandler really is appealing in the role. This older, more fatherly version of Happy has a healthy dose of compassion and sensitivity (no doubt, Sandler is drawing from real life experiences here) to go along with the manchild schtick that initially made Sandler a household name. It’s also sweet that he’s integrated his real-life family into the proceedings, something he’s been taking a beating for doing in some circles. The truth is, he’s always made movies with his friends through the years, and I find it endearing that he’s now including the whole family.
As appealing as Sandler is in Happy Gilmore 2, it’s Christopher McDonald who steals the show. You thought this guy was funny in the first film? This is Shooter McGavin times 10! He’s just so over-the-top ridiculous in this and it’s an absolute joy to watch. Furthermore, while it doesn’t entirely make sense given the narrative, I kind of like the direction his character is taken in the final act of the film. It’s a bit of a welcome surprise.
There are plenty of other returning characters, too, but I’d rather not spoil all of that stuff here in this review. That said, the trailers have made no secret of the fact that Ben Stiller’s Hal (the dastardly baddie who treated Happy’s grandmother like a prisoner in the first film), is back. Ultimately, a little of this character goes a long way and unfortunately, there’s a little too much of him in the sequel.
More interesting are the new characters including a restaurant worker (wonderfully played by Bad Bunny) who serves as Happy’s new caddie, a somewhat shifty golfer (played by The Sixth Sense star Haley Joel Osment) who may or may not have a hidden agenda, and the founder of a new golf league (played by Benny Safdie who, along with his brother, would direct Sandler to new dramatic heights in the unforgettable 2019 indie, Uncut Gems) who looks to turn things upside down in unethical fashion.
It should also be noted that a handful of key players in the original Happy Gilmore have since passed on in real life (Carl Weathers, Bob Barker, Richard Kiel, Joe Flaherty, and Frances Bay among them) but Sandler and his writing partner Tim Herlihy have made an extra concerted effort to thoughtfully make sure that their collective spirits can fittingly be felt throughout this film.
Is Happy Gilmore 2 entirely fulfilling? Again, not necessarily. It isn’t in the same league as the original and it’s certainly not the kind of film that will make Sandler fans out of non-fans. But then, as previously mentioned, the original has been elevated to cult status through the years and with that beloved reputation comes quite a bit of baggage. That baggage is probably why Sandler resisted the temptation to do a sequel for all of these years in the first place. That said, while this film doesn’t rise to the challenge of defeating the age old comedy sequel curse (seriously, you can probably count on one hand the number of comedy sequels that have been as good or better than their predecessors), it is vastly superior to the worst sequel Sandler has made throughout his entire career; The dull and uninspired Grown Ups 2. More importantly, though, this nearly 30-years- in-the-making sequel is a hell of a lot more satisfactory than eating pieces of shit for breakfast. Not that I know what eating pieces of shit for breakfast is actually like.
*Happy Gilmore is currently streaming on Netflix
