Revisit Happy Gilmore’s golf career after his win in the Tour Championship.
Chuck says:
Adam Sandler engenders a great deal of goodwill. You never read a bad thing about the guy, he’s self-effacing in his humor and about his success and is, by all accounts, an incredibly loyal friend. As a result, I have often wondered if critics and the public go a bit easier on his films than other stars of his caliber. To be sure, not all his movies have a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but in reading a great many reviews from a diverse sampling of critics, there’s a sense that “It’s fine” is a general response to much of his comedic fare. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should state that I am a fan of his unfairly maligned 2011 effort, “Jack and Jill.”)
That’s certainly the sense I had watching “Happy Gilmore 2,” an unnecessary but pleasant enough time-filler that made me laugh, made me roll my eyes and made me check the time repeatedly throughout its third act. As with most of the films Sandler produces, this plays like a reunion, his usual stable of friends showing up for roles large and small, all obviously happy to be on board this ever-lucrative party train that has no sign of stopping.
“Gilmore 2” is everything you’d want in a sequel to the Sandler classic, as well as a few things you can do without. The perpetually angry golfer has mellowed with age, having fathered five children – four boys and one girl – with the love of his life, Virginia (Julie Bowen) and found incredible success on the links. However, a freak accident puts him in a tailspin, causing him to lose all his money and retire from golf. Resigned to wallowing in self-pity, he’s ultimately convinced to take up his clubs once more when his daughter, Charlotte (Sadie Sandler) is accepted into a Parisian ballet school with a hefty price tag.
Sandler and co-writer Tim Herlihy lean heavily into the sports cliché handbook, Gilmore’s comeback following a familiar storyline. However, this one is replete with so many cameos for the sports world as well as the movie industry, to count. Former golfer John Daly, whose own career mirrored the crash-and-burn decline Gilmore’s does here, is on hand to give sage advice, while every living U.S. Open champion, except Tiger Woods, whose absence is conspicuous, makes an appearance at one point or another. Not to be outdone, current tour leaders, including Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and others join Sandler on the links.
As for story, there’s a vague semblance of one as Gilmore and a team of pros enter a tournament where they face off against a team of physically enhanced players who specialize in a new brand of the game that plays like golf on steroids. The third act in which this showdown takes place is like being immersed in a video game, the viewer bombarded by cheap graphics and an amped up soundtrack. More of an assault than entertainment, any charm the film may have contained is nearly squandered here.
There are little in the way of surprises though it is pleasant to see Gilmore’s old nemesis, Shooter McGavin (the always game Christopher McDonald) given a redemptive arc and, if anything, the film would have benefitted by giving him more screen time. In the end, I laughed more than I thought I would, and “Gilmore 2” does exactly what it’s supposed to do. However, unlike its predecessor, I doubt I’ll ever watch it again, as it lacks the edge that made the first film effective. I’ll take a Gilmore eager to take risks over one who lays up any day.
2 1/2 Stars
