Taglines: He doesn’t play golf… he destroys it.
Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) is an aspiring hockey player who possesses a powerful slapshot that his father (Louis O’Donoghue) taught him as a child (Donnie MacMillan) before he was apparently struck and killed by a wayward hockey puck. Happy’s over-aggressive streak — which once resulted in him trying to stab a guy to death with an ice skate — and lack of skating talent consistently preclude him from joining a hockey team, and his girlfriend, Terry (Nancy McClure), leaves him because of his hockey obsession.
Happy’s grandma, (Frances Bay) who raised him after his father’s death, has not paid her taxes for many years; as such, she owes the IRS $270,000 in back taxes, and her house is about to be seized. Happy has 90 days to come up with the money, or Grandma’s house will be auctioned off.
Grandma is forced to temporarily move into a retirement home, run by a sadistic manager named Hal (Ben Stiller in an uncredited role) who secretly uses the retirees for sweatshop labor. While repossessing Grandma’s furniture, a pair of movers challenge Happy to hit golf balls. With an unorthodox, slapshot-style swing, Happy hits the ball 400 yards three times, winning $40 from the movers as a result. He starts hustling golfers at a local driving range, leading one-handed club pro and former golf star Chubbs Peterson (Carl Weathers) to convince Happy to enter a local tournament. Happy wins the tournament and earns a spot on the Pro Golf Tour.
Happy Gilmore is a 1996 American sports comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan with music by Mark Mothersbaugh and produced by Robert Simonds. It stars Adam Sandler as the title character, an unsuccessful ice hockey player who discovers a talent for golf. The screenplay was written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy.
The film was released in cinemas on February 16, 1996 by Universal Pictures. Happy Gilmore was a commercial success, earning $41.2 million on a $12 million budget. This film was the first of multiple collaborations between Sandler and Dugan. The film won an MTV Movie Award for “Best Fight” for Adam Sandler versus Bob Barker.
Happy Gilmore (1996)
Directed by: Dennis Dugan
Starring: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowe, Frances Bay, Allen Covert, Robert Smigel, Bob Barker, Richard Kiel, Dennis Dugan, Kevin Nealon
Screenplay by: Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler
Production Design by: Perry Andelin Blake, William Heslup
Cinematography by: Arthur Albert
Film Editing by: Jeff Gourson, Steve R. Moore
Costume Design by: Tish Monaghan
Set Decoration by: Mark Lane
Art Direction by: Richard Harrison
Music by: Mark Mothersbaugh
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language and some comic sexuality.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: February 16, 1996
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