by The recently released Netflix follow-up to Adam Sandler’s 1996 golf comedy, Happy Gilmore 2, is quite similar to its star: After all these years, it’s still unquestionably humorous, just a little bit flabbier and shabbier.
After a brief introduction that skims over Happy’s career highlights, the legacyquel returns the golfer with the hockey player’s heart to where he began in the first movie: At the end of his rope, enraged, and broke. Happy now works at Stop & Shop and uses a constant supply of Jack Daniel’s as self-medication after a personal tragedy that we won’t discuss here.
Until he finds out that his daughter, Sunny Sandler, has been accepted to a prestigious dance school in Europe, Happy appears happy to spend his remaining days as an alcoholic. Reluctantly, Happy starts to repair his game because his tuition of $75,000 a year cannot be covered by working double shifts at Stop & Shop.
It is advised to rewatch Happy Gilmore before starting the sequel because Happy Gilmore 2 has a lot of story beats with callbacks that are usually humorous and sometimes thought-provoking. A court-ordered visit to HAL (Healing Alkies for Life), a program led by Hal L., Happy Gilmore’s insane nursing home orderly (played by Ben Stiller), is part of Happy’s quest to return to his former life. Sadie, Sandler’s other real-life daughter, is a fellow drinker who helps Hal keep focused, although Hal isn’t much help.
In movies like Grownups, Sandler periodically lost sight of his ability to be a tough underdog, which is what makes his comedy work best. Therefore, Happy Gilmore 2 is at its best in the opening half of the movie, when Happy is falling over drunk on the course, bouncing shots into his own crotch, and hanging Jon Lovitz from the second floor of a driving range.
When software genius Frank Manatee (Benny Safdie) asks Happy to join his new MAXI Golf Tour, which is an alternative to the dull PGA, things start to shift. In an exhibition match on MAXI’s experimental golf course, Happy teams up with a group of real-life golf pros (Bryson Dechambeau, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Brooks Koepka), despite how alluring the money may seem.
The story beats are pretty much the same on the golf course as they were in the original. As a dozen real-life golfers and announcer Verne Lundquist watch, Happy meets another caddy who is completely clueless about the game (Bad Bunny), asks his old mentor Chubbs Peterson’s son (Lavell Crawford) for advice, and even reconciles with his old adversary, Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald). Even if he is sober now and drinks Dunkin’ coffee instead of Budweiser, he is still a threat to civilized civilization.
Although Happy Gilmore 2 doesn’t lag in any way, it does end up being a little long at about two hours. And once the credits have rolled, what starts out as a series of well-timed but knowing appearances grows into an overcrowded procession of faces you’ll have to Google.
In a time when social media commentators despise nepo babies, Sandler’s loyalty to his pals (and their children) somehow comes off as wonderful and genuine. According to the logic, wouldn’t you bring your buddies along if you were just an ordinary guy who suddenly became famous like Sandler? Because they are all suitable for their parts, Sandman casts his daughters, wife, cousin, mother-in-law, and all of his regular day players (Rob Schneider, Allen Covert, Steve Buscemi, Dan Patrick, Jonathan Loughran, and Nick Swardson) in Happy Gilmore 2.
With appearances from talking heads (Stephen A. Smith), social media celebrities (Paige Spiranac), and too numerous podcasters to list, Netflix appears to have offered Sandler some insight into what cameos will resonate with a younger audience. The most of these appearances are hit or miss, but neither Bobby Lee nor Hot Ones host Sean Evans needed a third reaction shot, and two superstar musicians making late visits don’t make a difference.
Even his on-screen golf colleague Brooks Koepka’s real-life wife, Kelsey Plum, was given a role by Sandler. She is at least a better performer than her spouse and the most of the other pros, even though the advertisement is gratuitous. Will Zalatoris, who plays Happy’s cardmate at an early tournament and is actually funny, is the only golfer who demonstrates any acting talent at all.
Having said that, Happy Gilmore 2 easily occupies the top tier of the more than fifty films that Happy Madison Productions has made. Fans who have followed Sandler for thirty years will be more than happy with the attempt, but the original is still superior every day of the week.
*** out of 4 starsNetflix is streaming Happy Gilmore 2.
Kevin Slane writes on culture and entertainment as a staff writer for Boston.com. Movie reviews, streaming guidelines, celebrities, and Boston activities are the main topics of his work.
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