Really, I wasn’t planning on doing Happy Gilmore for our 25 years later series for some time closer to the summer. But then, Happy himself, Adam Sandler dropped this gem…
25 years ago, Happy Gilmore overcame a 4-stroke deficit to beat Shooter McGavin and win the Tour Championship.
Today, he's still got it.pic.twitter.com/veGSxwRjyx
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 16, 2021
So, here we are. Let’s get started!
Happy Gilmore:
Where I saw it: The Renaisannce 8 theater in Altamonte Springs which got torn down but would have been right up the hill from where the current AMC theater sits at Crane’s Roost.
Stars: Of course Adam Sanler, who was on his way to the hottest hand of his career that would keep him paid today to this day. Coming off Billy Madison, Sandler would follow up with this with, The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy, and Big Daddy. We’ve also got Carl Weathers here, who is still doing it today with the Mandalorian, and Julie Bowen, who’d land the role of Claire Dunphy on Modern Family and would run with that show for a over a decade.
Memorable Quote: So many.. but I’m going to go with “The Price Is Wrong, Bitch”
The Key Scene: Which leads us nicely into this.. We still talk about this fight scene to this day.
Interesting Fact: Despite being loathed by critics even back then, Sandler movies were big in Orlando during his initial run. It wasn’t uncommon to go to the theater and see a bunch of kids form school there. Fellow SNL alum, Chris Farley, also did well here before his untimely passing just a couple of years later.
Also, this wasn’t even the only golf movie to come out this year. Tin Cup with Kevin Costner and Renee Russo would also hit theaters. But it’s Happy that we talk about to this day. Even though I’ll probably blog about Tin Cup too.
Reviewing the film now: It was never my favorite Sandler comedy, that is still The Waterboy or Wedding Singer. But Happy Gilmore is still a fun watch to this day on cable. And it flipped my opinion of his work. While Sandler would be in the wilderness cranking out bad movies for quite a long time, you could see why he kept trying. He wanted to capture this kind of funny.