Be Happy With Gilmore

Last Tuesday, I was lucky enough to play in the Pro-Am Golf Tournament that was part of the week long festivities of the PGA Canada Tour event known as the Great Waterways Classic which was held at Upper Canada Golf Course in Morrisburg. The weather was beautiful, the course was in excellent shape, and our group teed off with pro golfer Riley Wheeldon – who, as of today, is the top moneymaker on the Canadian Tour this year. It was a superb day full of memorable moments and it did not take too long before the conversation turned to movies. It may be no surprise but Wheeldon’s favourite film of all-time is the classic 1996 golf comedy Happy Gilmore.

Adam Sandler’s movies have been known to be hit or miss, but this comedy is spot on. Written by Adam Sandler along with Tim Herlihy (SNL writer and frequent Sandler collaborator) and directed by another frequent Sandler partner Dennis Dugan, the story follows Happy Gilmore (Sandler), a wannabe hockey player who lacks skating skills but makes up for it with a booming slap-shot and a tough-guy attitude on the ice.

After being cut during the hockey season tryouts, Gilmore gets a call from his grandmother (Frances Bay), who raised him after his father died, as her house is being seized by the IRS. As the moving company removes her belongings from the home Gilmore’s grandfather built, the two workers take some time off to hit some golf balls. The down-on-his-luck hockey player chuckles at their lack of coordination and the annoyed employee places a bet that Happy cannot do better. We soon discover that Gilmore can hit a very long golf-ball (which hits two neighbours at the end of the street) and this leads him to enter an amateur tournament which would give him a chance to qualify for the P.G.A. tour and make the money that is needed to pay off his grandma’s debt.

Not surprisingly, he wins the tournament despite his lack of talent on the putting greens and qualifies for the tour, yet his gruff attitude and physical hockey style does not suit the more prim and proper golf world. He especially aggravates top pro Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald). This leads Gilmore to not only compete for his grandmother’s sake but also to beat the cocky Shooter.

What makes this movie so funny are the amazing characters that are brought to life by the impressive cast. Sandler does a great job as the rough-around-the-edges but likeable underdog, but McDonald is even better as the snooty antagonist who is in the way of Gilmore saving the day. It has been said that McDonald could find the cure for cancer and he would still be known as Shooter McGavin. Bay is superb as the old lady who is removed from her home for the first time in her life, and Ben Stiller is just as good as the cruel and abusive orderly in the nursing home she is forced to stay at. He is impressively vicious. On top of this, we have an early role from Modern Family’s Julie Bowen who plays Virginia Venit – the head of PR for the tour and Gilmore’s love interest, an excellent spot from former SCTV alum Joe Flaherty as the heckling fan that gets under our hero’s skin, Kevin Nealon (SNL) as a helpful golfer, Richard Kiel (Jaws from James Bond) as a physically imposing fan who threatens McGavin, Carl Weathers as Gilmore’s golf instructor who lost his hand to an alligator, pro golfer Lee Trevino who is always shaking his head at Gilmore’s lack of golf etiquette, and finally, Bob Barker who may just have the best cameo of all-time. He is deliciously sharp and surprisingly funny.

Yet, like many sports movies or comedies, this motion picture may frustrate viewers towards the end. The climax is far fetched and may push things well beyond believability – if Gilmore’s unorthodox swing did not already do that. Beyond that, this is a funny movie from beginning to end. The story gives the viewer what they want; an underdog tale that allows us to root for our protagonist and jeer the villain – much like the crowd does towards the end of the movie – and it makes us laugh out loud in the process. It is one of those sports movies that you can watch every year during the golf season as it does such a good job spoofing the sport, and that never gets old. Happy Gilmore should go down as one of the quintessential golf comedies of all-time. Don’t delay, watch it today, what do you say? Okay!