We are literally only four weeks into this column and I must admit, I’m starting to feel defeated. I genuinely do not understand him. Half of me believes that he is the greatest mastermind of all time, producing the same slightly altered content to rake in the money, and the other half believes that he genuinely thinks his films are hilarious, and that he’s struck a goldmine of film. The thought of him in a bathtub full of cash planning his next feature film (which I believe will be an autobiographical film shot in the style of The Nutty Professor, in which he will play every single character) has been keeping me awake at night. Maybe I started off too strong with his films; maybe I need to draw myself back to classic Sandman.
I feel like a fake Sandler fan when I admit that I’ve never watched Happy Gilmore – one of his most famous works of art, one that has blessed generations. The film revolves around a hockey-loving dude named Happy, who is not any good at hockey apart from his amazing swing (and we ain’t talking about Savage here). Happy finds out that his family home is getting repossessed and needs money fast, which he gains through golf tournaments. The film then follows his career, rivalries, love life, eventual selling out and so much more. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you question everything in life.
From an outsider’s perspective, I think what I love about this film is how genuinely Sandler it is. It’s probably the purest form of Sandler comedy. We have a young, fresh-faced Sandman who just wants to have a laugh and make stupid jokes and goof around a lot. The whole humour behind the film is remedial and childlike, but so whimsical that you can’t help but laugh. Like most Sandler films, there are points at which you think “is this really necessary? Does this enhance the plot in some way?” but it doesn’t even matter. What matters is that we see Sandler happy (haha get it?). He seems like he’s genuinely into the film and the idea behind it, and doesn’t look as tired and worn out as he does in some of his other films.
I feel like you almost can’t judge the film for the film itself, but rather the overall experience. Even if the plot line is a bit shit, the film brings so much nostalgia and joy to those watching. It was produced in the golden era of Sandler films when we still actually wanted to see him on our screens. All he wanted was to make audiences laugh with a bit of fart-humour and some minor misogyny. Happy Gilmore will always remain timeless, serving as the quintessential “I hate Adam Sandler but like that one film he does with the golf” film. This film made me feel happy, imagining the joy that he would’ve had coming up with the basic script and just getting to freestyle his way through life. Maybe there is hope for Adam Sandler after all. However, I’m still going to form a Kickstarter so I can punch Adam Sandler in the face.
P.S. In case you were wondering – you can Netflix and Chill to an Adam Sandler film. It’s just weird hearing “tap, tap, tap it in” while in the middle of making out x