Easy-to-watch underdog sports comedy

Rating: 6/10 (15 December 2008)

A temperamental aspiring hockey star with no talent finds he has a gift for the game of golf and uses it to make enough money to buy his grandmother's house back. This has light- hearted sports comedy written all over it. Toss in the comedy of Adam Sandler and then you go from light-hearted to wacko and borderline stupid. Either way, "Happy Gilmore" is about as easy to watch as rain drops on a window.
Like all collaborations between Sandler and director Dennis Dugan, "Happy" is full of strange characters (grandmas, midgets, awkwardly tall people) and stuck up, obnoxious antagonists (like Shooter McGavin) that make you like Sandler's terribly flawed character merely by default. Like many of his earlier films, "Happy" is one of Sandler's angry roles, where the physical comedy reigns supreme. Not his best gig, but amusing enough. The scene where he is learning to putt and takes his frustration out on a mini-golf robotic clown head pretty much sums it all up.
There are a few humorous nuggets from this film that have a high place in the list of top Adam Sandler comedy lines/moments, like the fight with Bob Barker accompanied by the timeless "the price is wrong, bitch." Other than those few great lines and funny scenes, there isn't a whole lot to love about "Happy Gilmore," but it acknowledges that and doesn't waste your time at just 90 minutes long.