Comedy sequels aren’t often very good, especially when they’re direct-to-streaming, and multiple decades have passed since the original. That’s especially true when the original film was primarily about the main character being a manchild, and now he’s pushing 60. I’m already dreading the upcoming This is Spinal Tap sequel, in which the three members of the band look not unlike Joe Biden.
Now there’s Happy Gilmore 2, Adam Sandler’s sequel to one of his first movie hits, which reached theaters in 1996. Released on Netflix, where Sandler enjoys pretty much a blank-check deal, the film delivers some occasional laughs, while also telling a surprisingly compelling story about what might’ve become of Happy Gilmore, 30 years on. And that’s on top of some sharp satire of the PGA/LIV Golf feud.
On the downside, the movie’s overstuffed, spreading a thin plot over two hours, and making room for small parts and cameos from seemingly every person Sandler has ever met in his life, including his entire immediate family, several of his Saturday Night Live contemporaries, a couple of dozen professional golfers of the past and present, and a bunch of random celebrities, including lots of people from the pro wrestling world. And that’s to say nothing of the callbacks, as well as extended tributes to all the people from the first movie, Bob Barker on down, who’ve since passed away.
Underneath all of that, though, is a story arc that’s worthwhile. The film was directed by Kyle Newacheck, who came out of the old TV show Workaholics and has directed a couple of previous Happy Madison pictures; Sandler co-wrote both Happy Gilmore films with his old SNL writing partner, Tim Herlihy.
The original 1996 Happy Gilmore starred Sandler, then still in his 20s, as an aspiring hockey player and rage case who discovers that he can hit a golf ball well, slap shot-style, and it leads to professional golf success.
As the new film begins, we learn that Happy remained a successful golfer for years, having four sons and a daughter, until everything was derailed by the death of his wife (Julie Bowen) in a freak golf accident. This leads to Happy losing interest in golf and returning to his rage-case tendencies, with a side of alcoholism. The latter’s illustrated by an outstanding running gag in which he uses just about everything as a clandestine container for liquor.
Instead of the first film’s IRS bill, Happy is motivated this time by needing to pay for the Paris dance school tuition of his daughter (Sandler’s daughter, Sunny). So he returns to golf, just as the main golf tour is under siege from an upstart rival. But instead of Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf, it’s Maxi Golf, led by a villainous, energy drink-hawking bro (played by Sandler’s Uncut Gems director, Benny Safdie).
The plot is gag after gag and cameo after cameo, some of which are better than others. Travis Kelce shines in his scenes, and I expect him to make the jump from the NFL to movies within a year or two. Aside from John Daly, the real-life golfer-gone-to-seed who’s cast as Happy’s wacky neighbor, Scottie Scheffler is the best of the real golfers, taking the chance to make fun of his real-life arrest. The 85-year-old golf announcer Verne Lundquist takes on the Bob Barker role, as the familiar older man who curses a lot.
One of the film’s best ideas is to cast the characters of Sandler’s four sons (the oldest of which is played by pro wrestling’s Maxwell Jacob Friedman) as loud, angry next-generation versions of Happy, in a way that makes them resemble the “Four Garbage Sons” from the classic Clickhole bit.
Not nearly as funny is Bad Bunny in an extended role as a caddy, while Steve Buscemi gets a nearly non-speaking role. Ben Stiller returns in a part of a sadistic, ponytailed AA sponsor that goes on forever. And Haley Joel Osment plays one of the antagonist golfers, but thanks to his recent Mel Gibson-style arrest, don’t expect to see him in another movie again for a while.