Decades after the initial drop of “Happy Gilmore,” the sequel — “Happy Gilmore 2” — finally made its way to the masses on Netflix on Friday. Maybe you have watched it already. Maybe you plan to still. Maybe you, like me, watched the first chunk of it Friday night (pretty good!), fell asleep on the couch and watched the final 40 minutes (pretty bizarre!) on Saturday.
But now it’s review time. Your reviewer? Me. My qualifications? Questionable. I’m no movie critic, but I am A) a golf writer; and B) have seen the original “Happy Gilmore” about a gazillion times. Consider me qualified.
Scroll below to see what stood out, who shined, what lingering questions we still have and more. But for those who haven’t seen it, be warned! Spoilers exist.
NOTE: This review contains spoilers.
The storyline is oddly reminiscent of “Rocky V,” when Sylvester Stallone loses everything due to Paulie’s shoddy business dealings and moves into a modest home with a normal 9-to-5 job. The same happens here, although Adam Sandler’s undoing is largely his fault, the domino effect of unfortunate circumstances and bad decisions.
It’s only when Gilmore’s daughter — his actual daughter in real life — needs money to go to a fancy dance school in Paris that he tries to think of a way to grab some quick cash and pay her way. That’s when he decides to get back into golf and earn a couple of paychecks, although he soon finds himself leading a battle between the current golf tour and an eccentric start-up league with the future of pro golf hanging in the balance. (Sound familiar?)
This thing is loaded with cameos, with over a dozen pro golfers playing themselves and several other celebrities (Travis Kelce, Bad Bunny, Eminem and more) playing complementary characters. Here’s who stood out.
Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler has some acting chops! With movies like this, some athletes look more comfortable than others. Scheffler is great, with his dry sense of humor and deadpan deliveries stealing the show. Now if only his golf game was this good.
John Daly
He lives in Gilmore’s garage and is a random-yet-wonderful addition to the movie, and the fact that the reason why Daly lives there was never explained makes it even more hilarious.
Will Zalatoris
Zalatoris plays a grown-up, pro-golf-playing version of Gilmore’s caddie from the original movie, who we find out is still irked by how Gilmore treated him back then. Zalatoris only has a few scenes, but is excellent.
Jordan Spieth
Spieth has a small part, in which he complains to a waiter about the type of gin in his drink, but if you are going to have limited at-bats, you might as well hit a couple of doubles. His line was delivered well and sneaky funny coming from him: “I asked for a Tanqueray and tonic but I think they gave me Bombay instead.” And for those wondering, as a gin-and-tonic fan, yes, you can tell the difference.
Bad Bunny
The Puerto Rican rapper played a busboy who later turned into Gilmore’s caddie. As someone who hasn’t listened to rap (other than the Beastie Boys) in two decades, I had no idea who this guy was, but my wife informed me that he’s apparently quite popular! (Although she didn’t know who Fred Couples or Nelly Korda were, so we are even.) Regardless, Mr. Bunny played his role well.
— I hope that was a stunt double who was tagged in for Zalatoris when Gilmore tackled him, sat on him and tugged on his arms (a throwback to the original movie). Will’s got a bad back!
— I thought Gilmore’s four boys in the movie were actually entertaining. They were unhinged and irrational, but fit this film well.
— The ongoing bit where Gilmore had booze hidden everywhere — literally everywhere — was fun. (Although we don’t condone this!)
— They probably didn’t have legal rights to say “PGA Tour” in the movie, but it was kind of odd they kept referring to the main tour as “the regular golfers.” Although the movie did well to poke fun at itself for it, with Gilmore wearing a hat that said “regular golfers” above the bill.
— The final 40 minutes of the movie and the regular golfers’ showdown versus the rival Maxi Golf league was, well, bizarre. It was like playing a Golden Tee golf course on steroids. Although if the point was for it to be so ridiculous it was at times funny, then perhaps it worked. Sometimes.
A showdown on the stage. Netflix
Did we really have to kill off Happy’s wife minutes into the opening scene? It was like a Disney movie, when tragedy always has to strike in the first 10 minutes. I wanted more Julie Bowen in this.
Was it too long? At just a shade under two hours, probably.
Would Shooter McGavin vs. Happy Gilmore Part II have been a better plot than Gilmore and fellow pros taking on the upstart golf league? Maybe!
If LIV Golf didn’t come to power, would this still have been the movie’s plot? Makes you wonder…
Were there too many flashbacks to the original movie or appearances by offspring of characters in the original? Yes. But you could argue some of that was necessary. It’s been 29 years since the original movie, and I can see how a little refresher (or connecting the dots for people who actually never saw the first) is helpful.
Sandler closes the movie by saying he’s headed to the British Open. We know he won six Tour Championships (as the movie states), but would his game translate to links golf?
Speaking of the Open Championship, how would Happy Gilmore have fared at the Masters? Or, how often would he have even played? The green jackets likely would not have put up with his antics and might have denied him entry.
Where was Tiger Woods? A bummer he didn’t make an appearance.
With all due respect, was Haley Joel Osment (and his character, Billy Jenkins) the best option for a golfing villain?
Couldn’t Gilmore have secured the money he needed through a couple of endorsements? No Subway to bail him out this time?
“Well, it looks like we have our first fatality.” — Verne Lundquist, after a heckler (played by Eminem) gets attacked by alligators
“Oh no, not again.” — Scottie Scheffler, after a pair of police officers arrest him for punching another golfer
“Do you want breadsticks?” — Bad Bunny, speaking to Rory McIlroy, who just took a baseball to the sternum; the busboy-turned-caddie used this line a few times and it always hit
“Happy Gilmore 2” pulled from the playbook of several Sandler comedies. A lot of his buddies were in it, and there were a handful of memorable moments and a bunch of bizarre bits that were so ridiculous you might have deemed them funny or flat. Maybe a little of both.
It’s virtually impossible to take a cult favorite like “Happy Gilmore,” remake it nearly three decades later and have it receive rave reviews. But in a way, “Happy Gilmore 2” was created to be a celebration of a comedy classic and of golf. A bunch of cameos? A bunch of jokes? A bunch of ridiculousness? I was actually pleasantly surprised with it two-thirds of the way through, until the final third got a little too far-fetched for me.
It won’t ever have the rewatchability or quotability as the original, but if your main takeaway is that this was simply a flop, you probably aren’t someone who accepts gimmes and should take things a little less seriously.
