Film Review – Happy Gilmore 2

July 27th, 2025 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

On paper, Happy Gilmore (1996) probably shouldn’t have worked. A failed hockey player – prone to fits of rage – joining a pro golf circuit to make enough money to save his grandmother’s house sounds kooky. And yet, it had the right mix of stupid and sincere, garnering a large fan following and making its star Adam Sandler a household name. You either dug it or you didn’t – there wasn’t much room for a middle ground. The same can be said of its sequel, the aptly titled Happy Gilmore 2 (2025). It does pretty much the exact same thing, but with the added layer of nostalgia. There seems to be a legacy sequel for just about any well-known property these days, but this one might have enough dumb fun to work.

There was a stretch in Sandler’s career where his comedies felt increasingly cheap, as though he were there to simply hang out with his friends and collect a paycheck. Thankfully, his return as Happy Gilmore shows him locked in and committed. He clearly has a soft spot for the character and it shows. Obviously, he is not the young man he once was. Happy – along with Sandler himself – is middle-aged, more laid back, and has the weight of time and experience on his shoulders. When we reunite with him, Happy has hit a rough patch. For reasons I won’t describe, his love interest from the first film, Virginia (Julie Bowen) is no longer around. He lost his money and his grandmother’s house, has become an alcoholic, and struggles to take care of his kids, including his daughter Vienna (Sunny Sandler). Where Happy was once a golfing legend, he has now become a punchline.

Things take a turn when Happy learns that Vienna has been accepted into a prestigious ballet school overseas. Knowing that he doesn’t have the funds to pay for it, Happy dusts off the clubs and joins the pro circuit once more. What follows is a goofy, madcap plot involving Happy traversing a world that is both influenced by him and has left him behind. We see this in the character of Frank Manatee (played by Sandler’s Uncut Gems codirector Benny Safdie). Manatee has created a new golf league with updated elements such as a shot clock and obstacle courses. Not only does Happy come back for the money, but also to preserve the sanctity of traditional golf, which is weird to say since he was the rulebreaker thirty years ago. In fairness, Manatee’s new league does look kinda fun – like miniature golf on steroids. But maybe Happy’s new point of view is reflective of him as an older man. 

For a screwball comedy, Happy Gilmore 2 contains several themes involving aging, guilt, death, redemption, and family. Director Kyle Newacheck (with a screenplay by Sandler and Tim Herlihy) structures a narrative that doesn’t just examine Happy’s age but embraces it as a point of comedy. One of the funnier moments occurs when Happy imagines his “Happy Place” to help calm down (a call back to the original). But instead of fantasizing about beautiful women carrying beer, Happy imagines having lower cholesterol and fitting into medium sized pants. He has run ins with nearly all the offspring of those he was close to, a not-so-subtle reminder of the passing of time. Some of these encounters are so off the wall that they come back around as funny, such as Happy’s interaction with a character played by Eminem. Granted, a lot of the gags do not work (what Steve Buscemi does with a mailbox is just uncalled for), but the comedy acts as a numbers game. It’s as though the production stuffed in as many punchlines and pratfalls in hopes that some will stick.

I’ve already mentioned a few of the cameos, but that only scratches the surface. Sandler is known for having his friends and family show up in his projects, but in this case he apparently called every person in his contact list. This must be in the conversation for most cameos in a film ever, where nearly every scene has a familiar face pop up out of nowhere. There are several returning characters, such as Happy’s old nemesis Scooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), but they stand shoulder to shoulder with people that appear just for the sake of doing Sandler a favor.  Whether it’s Travis Kelce as an unhinged waiter, Post Malone as a golf commentator, or Kid Cudi as an FBI agent, there are names from all over popular culture. You might think those I have mentioned are a spoiler, but I promise you: it is only the tip of the iceberg. Podcasters, YouTube personalities, SNL alums, comedians, musicians, actors, athletes, and influencers from just about every platform known to man are included. We wonder what the scheduling was like to get all these people into the same movie! It’s so overwhelming that it kind of won me over. With each passing scene, I waited to see who we would bump into next in the carousel.

Nostalgia is a major factor, which unfortunately works as a detriment. There are details fans will appreciate, such as Happy putting on his famous hockey jersey and his now popular swing mechanics. But the editing uses the callbacks as a crutch. Flashbacks from the original are inserted to fill the audience in on a certain joke or plot point. This approach isn’t such a big deal in small doses, but the production adds them in so frequently that much of the story operates as a mere clip show. We’re continuously reminded of the past that the present takes a bit of a back seat. I get that the production wanted to give fans something they know and recognize. But by reaching back into old memories, the sequel stumbles in creating new ones it can call its own.

Happy Gilmore 2 is far from perfect. It runs a little long at a hair under two hours, with uneven pacing that makes it feel longer. Several of the jokes fall flat. If you weren’t a fan of the original or of Sandler’s early comedies, then there’s nothing here that will win you over. However, if you come in with an open mind and are willing to run with the sheer ridiculousness of it all, you may walk out pleasantly entertained. The film has a sweetness that makes it easier to look past its faults. It does exactly what it advertises – it sticks to its comfort zone and has a good ol’ time staying there.

Adam Sandler, Benny Safdie, Christopher McDonald, Eminem, Featured, Happy Gilmore, Happy Gilmore 2, Julie Bowen, Kid Cudi, Kyle Newacheck, Post Malone, Steve Buscemi, Sunny Sandler, Tim Herlihy, Travis Kelce, Uncut Gems