New review out, my first for a long time. It's on the amazing DVD, School of Rock.
New review out, my first for a long time. It's on the amazing DVD, School of Rock.
Member since:22.04.2005
Reviews:40
Members who trust:18
In A Nutshell: Wannabe pro ice hockey player (Sandler) turns golfer to win enough money to buy back his grandma's house, and finds love (Julie Bowen) along the way.
Key Facts: Title - Happy Gilmore Starring - Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Carl Weathers, Julie Bowen, Bob Barker, Richard Kiel, Kevin Nealon Price - A few pounds now for the VHS, slightly more for DVD. Subtitles - No Certificate - 12 BBFC Director - Dennis Dugan Distributor - Universal Pictures Run Time - 88 minutes Comedy Rating - 9/10
Price & Packaging: Peanuts. This film is old. You should look for the VHS copy for under £5, and the DVD copy at £5 or just over. By the way, the version I am reviewing is the VHS (Video) version, so I can't comment on the special features, because this video has none. It's just the film, and the rest is blank.
Story: The film starts off showing a younger Happy Gilmore, playing with his Dad. Sandler narrates over the scenes where the two are playing together. Happy describes his love for ice hockey, and we get to see his infamous strike - where he smashes any object really hard with his hockey stick. Happy and his Dad are at a hockey match, and his Dad gets hits by a hockey puck. He goes to stay with his grandma, in her big house, and she is really nice to him. That is all we know of his childhood. The film then cuts to when Happy is at school. We see him trying out for the ice hockey team, and every year, he gets rejected. We see Happy's angry side on one such occasion, where he beats up his coach on the rink, for not letting him in the team. In principal, this
shouldn't be funny, but in Happy Gilmore, it is. After graduation, Happy flirts with lots of different jobs, a janitor, a petrol station assistant, a builder etc. Here's a funny scene. During his short spell as a builder, Happy and his friends are messing about with a nail gun. Happy says what a good shot he, and shoots some cans of a wall a few metres away. Unfortunately, Happy closes his eyes for the next shot, to show off, so doesn't see his boss walking behind the all. Yep, you guesses it, a nail in the head. Happy's boss reappears later on in the film, and is great for comic value. One day, Gilmore goes to visit his Grandma's, and finds some government agency taking all of her possessions. It turns out, grandma hasn't paid the bills for years, and is in hundreds of thousands pounds of dept, and if they don't come up with $300,000 soon, even the house will be repossessed and sold on. As some workers are carrying out some things from the house, they stop for a quick couple of golf shots on the lawn. One of them hits a crap shot, and Happy comes out laughing at them. Happy is then challenged to hit it further than the previous guy. As you may guess, we see him absolutely pelt a ball about 400 yards, right through the window of a posh house at the end of the avenue. Happy is then challenged to do it again, which he does, this time hitting a man of the house who has come out the front door to inspect the damage done by the first ball! Happy then goes double or nothing on one final ball, which he pelts, into a woman of the same house, who is leaning out of the upstairs window! Badda bing badda boom, happy Gilmore is $40 richer. This gives him an idea. The film cuts to a driving range, with Happy challenging people he can hit it further than them. Obviously no one can beat him, so Happy wins some money. At the driving range is the club pro, played by Carl Weathers, who spots Happy and sees his potential. I think his name is Chuck Norris, but don't quote me on it. Chuck Norris convinces Happy to play in a golf tournament, and whoever wins that gets to play on the PGA Tour. Happy finally agrees, but only because he wants to win some money. At the tournament, everyone is impressed by his immense drive, but his putting leaves lot to be desired. Cue lots of shouting, swearing, club throwing, and beating people up. However, somehow Happy pulls it off and makes in onto the PGA Tour. At the tournament, we are introduced to the soon to be love interest played by Julie Bowen, and soon to be arch rival Shooter McGavin, played by Christian McDonald. Over the course of the film, we see Happy winning money for his placements in the tournaments. He doesn't come first, but still wins a fair amount of money. There is a celebrity match with Bob Barker, which ends in Happy and Bob have a fight on live TV, which is very entertaining, but results in Happy getting a temporary ban from golf. However, during this ban, Happy does a commercial that takes him up to the required amount of money to buy his Gran's house back. However, when they get to the house, an auction has begun, and who should buy the house but Shooter McGavin. This is where the ultimatum comes in - If Happy wins the final tournament of the season, he gets the house back, but if Shooter wins, shooter keeps the house. The final match has its ups and down, with times when Happy is put off, and when shooter is put off. The scores are always really close, but in the end, Happy comes out of top, by making a very ambitious put on the 18th, involving some scaffolding and a burnt out car. So they get the house back, and every lives happily ever after, apart from Shooter of course.
Even though I have written quite a lot about the story, there are still loads of hilarious comments and scenes I haven't mentioned. You really have to see this film for yourself.
My One Problem: I might be being a little picky here, but in the tournaments we see Happy play in, he come first apart from in a couple. He has a drive that is 100yards greater than everyone else's, meaning he reach par 4's and 5's in just one shot. And even though his putting is bad, its not that bad, so in my eyes, Happy should be winning more tournaments.
Best bits: Oh, you can't ask me to choose, there are too many great bits, but I think on comedy value, I have two great quotes.
An accomplice is hired to pt happy off during a golf tournament, and he does so by calling him a jackass. Happy ends up on the beach, and the accomplice says to him, "You're going to need two things, a towel and some sun cream cos you're never going to get off that beach ya jackass". Ok, it's funny in context.
Secondly, happy makes a deal with Shooter McGavin, his rival, and Happy says he'll beat him in the upcoming tournament. Shooter laughs it off and retorts, "I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast." Happy - "you eat pieces of shit for breakfast?" Ahhhhh, classic.
Conclusion: A fairly old film, that is funny even to this day, I have watched it a few times, and still haven't got bored of it. The acting is great, you'll laugh out loud loads of times, the story is engaging and the script is hilarious. Acting is also top notch, and this film is just testament to how versatile Adam Sandler can be. I would recommend this to any person; you don't have to play golf to enjoy it.
Thanks for reading, pleases comment and tell me what you thought of the review, and how I can improve it.
Phil
P.S. This film sticks its middle finger up anyone who says that Caddyshack is better the Happy Gilmore.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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haha love this film, adam sandler is brilliant in this.
i also love shooters 'i eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast' line lmao! but i love his reaction to happys comeback more
'you eat pieces of shit for breakfast?'
*shooter stands in silence for a second* '...no' haha great comedy
snootyjim 04.06.2007 21:04
Love this film - good review - Jim
chocliteclair 04.06.2007 19:03
Although I'm not a fan of golf I found this film very funny. Always makes me think of Johnny Knoxville blowing the air horn in Jackass lol :0)
Adam Sandler fans are sure to enjoy this no-brainer comedy, but everyone else is strongly ... more
advised to proceed with caution. Before scoring a more enjoyable hit with his 1998 comedyThe Wedding Singer, the formerSaturday Night Livegoofball played Happy Gi...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Adam Sandler fans are sure to enjoy this no-brainer comedy, but everyone else is strongly ... more
advised to proceed with caution. Before scoring a more enjoyable hit with his 1998 comedyThe Wedding Singer, the formerSaturday Night Livegoofball played Happy Gi...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Adam Sandler fans are sure to enjoy this no-brainer comedy, but everyone else is strongly ... more
advised to proceed with caution. Before scoring a more enjoyable hit with his 1998 comedyThe Wedding Singer, the formerSaturday Night Livegoofball played Happy Gi...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Adam Sandler fans are sure to enjoy this no-brainer comedy, but everyone else is strongly ... more
advised to proceed with caution. Before scoring a more enjoyable hit with his 1998 comedyThe Wedding Singer, the formerSaturday Night Livegoofball played Happy Gi...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: There are so many advantages to this movie that it's tough to put them into one little box but anyhoot - IT'S JUST A REALLY REALLY FUNNY FILM SO WATCH IT - OKAY!!!!!!!?? Disadvantages: Now let me see....... - NONE!
andi_hutchings 17.07.2001 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Happy Gilmore (DVD)
Advantages: There are so many advantages to this movie that it's tough to put them into one little box but anyhoot - IT'S JUST A REALLY REALLY FUNNY FILM SO WATCH IT - OKAY!!!!!!!?? Disadvantages: Now let me see....... - NONE!
andi_hutchings 17.07.2001 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Happy Gilmore (DVD)
![Happy Gilmore [DVD] [1996]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78542188.jpg "Happy Gilmore [DVD] [1996]")
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![Happy Gilmore [DVD] [1996] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/71549022.jpg)
![Happy Gilmore [DVD] [1996] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/75129130.jpg)
