HAPPY GILMORE
(PG-13)
MOVIE: ***1/2 (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
Like “Billy Madison,” “Happy Gilmore” features Adam Sandler when he was younger and more raw. There is already signs in this film that he’s trying to grow out of his idiot man-child persona that SNL and “Billy Madison” built. But there’s still plenty of true immaturity (rather than grasps at reclaiming immaturity that we see in cinemas now from Sandler) to go around.
In a rare turn, Sandler does not play someone who is ridiculously wealthy (which seems to be his shtick, considering this was a factor in “Billy Madison,” “Mr. Deeds,” “Reign Over Me,” “Funny People,” “Just Go With It,” “Grown Ups” and the apocalyptic sign of the upcoming “Jack and Jill”). Instead, he plays a has-been hockey star who takes up golf to gain a cult following and shake up the circuit.
Similar to “Billy Madison,” “Happy Gilmore” includes plenty of bizarre moments, including a great turn by Carl Weathers as his golfing mentor and Bob Barker as one of his nemeses on the golf course. and while it’s steeped in the feeling a golf (a sport I find mind-numbingly boring), it’s still entertaining to watch, even 15 years after it was made.
The Blu-ray has fewer features than “Billy Madison” does, but at least it some deleted scenes and outtakes.