Last Updated on March 25, 2024
Adam Sandler is working on Happy Gilmore 2, a sequel to his landmark 1996 golf comedy co-starring Julie Bowen and Christopher McDonald.
McDonald, who played the villainous “Shooter McGavin,” revealed the news in a radio interview with The Ken Carman Show in Cleveland, and he quickly went viral. Sandler evidently has a script in hand for the project, which would presumably cast him yet again as the titular long-driving hockey burnout who becomes a sensation on the pro golf tour.
A Happy Gilmore sequel is exactly the kind of movie that America needs right now during these dark times, and (let’s face it) it would be better than any comedy that Sandler has made in many years. Though Sandler, 57, turned in great dramatic performances in Punch-Drunk Love and Uncut Gems, his self-produced comedies have mostly been lucrative disappointments.
Sandler gained fame on Saturday Night Live in the early 1990’s in a cast that also included the late legends Chris Farley and Norm MacDonald. His characters, including Opera Man and Canteen Boy, endeared him to a generation of young male fans who flocked to Blockbuster to rent his first few movies in droves: Billy Madison (1995) and Happy Gilmore (1996) are comedy classics, and he became a box-office superstar with the populist football comedy The Waterboy (1998) and his ’80s romcom The Wedding Singer (1998) with Drew Barrymore.
Big Daddy (1999) was still pretty funny but it pushed Sandler in the direction of trite sentimental mainstream slop, and he started cranking out mediocrities like Mr. Deeds (2002), 50 First Dates (2004) and Click (2006). By the time he got to Just Go With It (2011) and the abominable cross-dressing “comedy” Jack and Jill (2011) it seemed like he was no longer even trying. Wealthy and famous, Sandler lost the edge that he displayed on SNL and in his early comedy albums and movies. What happened to our Gen-X slacker everyman?
With Happy Gilmore 2, Sandler has the chance to remind us of how good he once was. Happy Gilmore was written by Sandler and longtime SNL scribe Tim Herlihy (the father of one of the Please Don’t Destroy comics on SNL now). In my opinion, it is one of the greatest American comedies, on par with Office Space and Annie Hall. Every element of Happy Gilmore works, and it just makes you wonder why Sandler couldn’t have written a few more really great ones.
Sandler movie regular Chris Rock said that Sandler’s team starts working on the script for their next movie while they are filming a different one. This is not altogether surprising, and it shows in the quality of the work. Writing takes time and so does good filmmaking. Sandler should focus and exert as much effort as possible on Happy Gilmore 2, because the franchise doesn’t just belong to him. It belongs to all American suburban men who grew up in the age of home video.
Sadly, two icons from the original movie are no longer with us. Carl Weathers, who played one-handed golf legend “Chubbs” Peterson, passed away, and long-running The Price Is Right host Bob Barker is also dead.
Even though Happy Gilmore 2 could never really be as inspired and great as the original, America still wants it. So, as long as Sandler gives this sequel to us then we can forget that Jack and Jill ever happened. And we can all just go to our happy place…