Sometimes I have to eat my words even when I don't want to

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2016)

I had not seen Happy Gilmore. People were shocked when I would say this but I also had zero desire to see it and the more time that passed, the less I wanted to see it. It seemed like it was in that vein of comedy that I didn't care for at all. I don't hate Adam Sandler, but I hate when he does stupid so I lumped Happy Gilmore into that. My wife insisted we check it out when they added it to Netflix so we gave it a try. Not only was Happy Gilmore not terrible, it was actually quite funny and silly but in all the right ways and you can actually see Adam Sandler's charisma that has made him a comedy staple for the last couple of decades. This was far better than his fare as of late. I even was especially impressed with that infamous and ridiculous fight between Happy and Bob Barker. Someone told me just before I watched this that I had to because it was a staple of 90's cinema and I scoffed at them. Well I take back my scoff. For all it's ridiculousness, it is a quintessential 90's film and it's the perfect type of movie to just turn your brain off and have some fun.
Sometimes its hard now to figure out why Adam Sandler is so successful. But when you go back and look at Happy Gilmore you see the type of guy that came out of Saturday Night Live with a ton of talent. Happy is a great character full of anger and uncontrollable outbursts and he's funny and commands attention. Its not an Award worthy performance, it's just a fun role. A good part of the success of the movie is the supporting cast. Christopher Mcdonald is absolutely perfect as the egotistical nemesis to Happy. McDonald is always good at these types of character roles and this is no exception. Julie Bowen (now known for Modern Family of course) is decent as the love interest. Her character is very one-dimensional but she does alright. She certainly doesn't flex any comedic muscles in the role. Frances Bay, another great character actor, is perfect as Happy's beloved Grandmother. Some other faces to watch for are Bob Barker (of course), Ben Stiller, Joe Flaherty, Richard Kiel and Allen Covert to name some of the stronger supporting roles.
Director Dennis Dugan has had a very interesting career. He has done a lot of Television and a lot of silly comedy. Then he seems to have hitched his ride to Adam Sandler and hasn't looked back since. I don't know if Dugan feels comfortable in the genre or what but this was one of his better films with Sandler so I guess he deserves credit. I'm not sure he has much style, he just sort of uses his cast decently and tells his story. Happy Gilmore is a dirty adult comedy but it's also not toilet humour for no other sake so I can respect that. I laughed a lot and had a good time so I eat my words and I admit to Happy Gilmore's deserved legacy in 90's film history. 8/10