Happy Gilmore 2
Happy Gilmore 2
Revisit Happy Gilmore's golf career after his win in the Tour Championship.
History is littered with terrible comedy sequels, but Adam Sandler somehow just defied the odds. I watched Happy Gilmore 2, which is now on Netflix, so here's the good and the bad without spoilers. This is easily Adam Sandler's best original comedy in decades, a delightful return built exclusively for fans. It's juvenile and silly in the best way possible, but it never forgets the heart.
I laughed a lot all throughout, and I thought it had the perfect blend of callbacks and new jokes. There's a ton of quick running gags and even more wacky physical comedy. Sandler leans into his mature, curmudgeon persona, but remembers that Happy Gilmore is also a sad sack who's dealt with a lot of tragedy. Golfer John Daly has a very funny supporting role.
Christopher McDonald is great once again as Shooter McGavin. They give him a new dynamic in this film that I really appreciated, and there are so many fun cameos from celebrities, pro golfers and Adam Sandler's friends. It feels like the golf community really embraced the sequel, which made sense for the story. Happy's sons are also hilarious, and the movie has a couple of great needle drops.
As for the bad, the third act tipped a little too far into surrealism for my taste. Sandler's wife and daughters aren't the best actors. There are a lot of clips from the first movie to jog your memory, which felt very redundant to me. And likewise, there's a lot of repeated exposition, but maybe the most frustrating thing about this is that the movie’s on Netflix and not in theaters, because I think it would have played great with a huge crowd.
Anyway, if you love the first movie and you're open to some silliness, you will love this. He absolutely nailed it.