'Happy Gilmore'
The Ringer's Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey are joined by the directors of 'Uncut Gems' Josh and Benny Safdie to tap it in, just tap in, give it a little tappy, tap tap taparoo after rewatching 'Happy Gilmore' starring Adam Sandler, Julie Bowen, and Christopher McDonald.
Cast
Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore
Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin
Carl Weathers as Chubbs Peterson
Julie Bowen as Virginia Venit
Ben Stiller as Hal L.
Directed by: Dennis Dugan
Written by: Tim Herlihy
Notes
- Part of the 1994-96 comedy golden age: Ace Ventura, 'Dumb and Dumber', 'Tommy Boy', Billy Madison, Kingpin, 'Happy Gilmore', and Black Sheep all came out in a two-and-a-half-year span – 'all the children of Saturday Night Live just started to make movies'.
- Sandler was essentially fired from SNL during a season cleanup, but the Safdie brothers describe his comedy style as 'kind of like a Jerry Lewis – he's peculiar in a very original way'.
- The role of Chubbs Peterson was originally written for John Amos (Good Times). The studio insisted on Carl Weathers instead. When Amos appeared in Uncut Gems, Sandler said 'whatever happened to the golf movie?'
- Christopher McDonald bet the entire crew he could hit the climactic putt and nailed it on the second or third take – that energy became part of his performance.
- Bob Barker insisted on doing his own fight stunts rather than using a stunt double. Director Dennis Dugan (who also plays Doug in the film) confirmed Barker's boxing stance was legitimate.
- Roger Ebert gave it one and a half stars, saying Sandler's character 'doesn't have a pleasing personality' – Simmons calls this a bad take while acknowledging 'he's kind of right while being wrong'.
- The film boosted Price Is Right ratings. Barker's cameo was mind-blowing in 1996 because daytime TV was much more siloed from movies – 'it was like seeing a baseball player out of uniform'.
- Real golfer Mark Lye served as technical advisor and appeared in the film, happy to 'come off like a complete douchebag'.
- The Safdie brothers say they 'accidentally quote it constantly' on set with Sandler while making Uncut Gems – it's between 'Happy Gilmore' and Sandler's comedy records for most quoted material.
Categories
Quote from Rog's review:
“Adam Sandler's character doesn't have a pleasing personality. He seems angry even when he's not supposed to be, and his habit of pounding everyone he dislikes is tiring in a PG-13 movie.”
Ebert said Sandler's character 'doesn't have a pleasing personality' and 'seems angry even when he's not supposed to be.' Simmons: 'He's kind of right while being wrong – he's underlining everything that makes it great.' The Safdies note Ebert praised identical traits in Herzog films.
The Bob Barker fight at the Pepsi Pro-Am – 'not just the fight, it's everything leading up to it.' Barker getting madder and madder, 'there is no way you could have been this bad at hockey as you are at golf,' and the actual brawl. Also the opening credits (hockey footage, 'Tuesday's Gone'), the auction scene ('I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast'), the happy place sequence, and the Shooter/Joe Flaherty 'let's get some grub' scene.
The psychotic Adam Sandler archetype – he's a hockey player who became a golfer and is genuinely dangerous. The quotability: 'you eat pieces of shit for breakfast?', 'the price is wrong, bitch', 'I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast.' Shooter McGavin as one of the all-time great comedy villains.
Bob Barker's iconic cameo has lost cultural impact because younger audiences don't have the same connection to Price Is Right as a cultural institution. The 2018 equivalent is impossible to identify – someone suggested Doris Burke.
Chubbs was written for John Amos, not Carl Weathers. Christopher McDonald's putt bet with the crew. Bob Barker insisted on doing his own stunts. Mark Lye was the technical advisor. The Sandler/Tim Herlihy writing process was basically 'just making jokes and throwing them in a movie.' The 1994-96 comedy wave context.
Richard Kiel ('Jaws' from the Bond films) as the terrifying hockey enforcer in the opening. Joe Flaherty as Shooter's bizarre companion. The nursing home orderly played by Ben Stiller – 'your fingers hurt? Well now your back's gonna hurt because you just pulled landscaping duty.'
Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin – every single scene. The gold jacket obsession, the Red Lobster invitations, buying Grandma's house. 'One of the greatest villains of all time.'
Adam Sandler – this is right at the peak of his comedy powers, the arrival that vindicated SNL fans after he was fired. The psychotic-but-likable persona was perfected here. Also Bob Barker movie cameos – nothing has matched the shock value since.
Adam Sandler. This launched his decade-plus run as the biggest comedy star in the world and established the template (buddies, sports, psychotic charm) for everything that followed.