One of the great films, let alone one about golf, got a sequel this summer.
Happy Gilmore 2 came to Netflix 29 years after the first movie was put before us. It is a cult favourite, there isn’t a golfer who hasn’t seen it, and there won’t be a golfer who won’t watch the next one if not for intrigue alone.
Adam Sandler, the US actor who has appeared in other films such as The Waterboy, Uncut Gems, The Wedding Singer and Big Daddy among many other titles, is back as the main character.
Here is what we know about the much-anticipated part two of Happy Gilmore. We will try to keep the spoilers down to a minimum.
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When does Happy Gilmore 2 come out?
Happy Gilmore 2 came out on Friday, July 25, and it will only be available on Netflix.
Where was Happy Gilmore 2 filmed?
According to IMDb (Internet Movie Database), Happy Gilmore 2 was filmed in New Jersey (specifically Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club and Farmview Golf Centre), Los Angeles, and Jersey City.
Who is in Happy Gilmore 2?
From the original cast joining Adam Sandler, we have Julie Bowen (Virginia Venit), Ben Stiller (Hal the orderly in the nursing home), and Christopher McDonald (Shooter McGavin).
Sandler has new co-stars such as Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (aka Bad Bunny), daughters Sadie and Sunny Sandler, and Blake Clark. The following names also feature:
Jackie Sandler, Eric André, Margaret Qualley, Martin Herlihy, Tim Herlihy, Nelly Korda, Nancy Lopez, Verne Lundquist, Jack Giarraputo, Kevin Nealon, Benny Safdie, John Farley, Travis Kelce, Kym Whitley, Lavell Crawford, Ken Jennings, Cam’ron, Eminem, Post Malone, Marcello Hernandez, Dan Patrick, Oliver Hudson, Reggie Bush, Becky Lynch, Nikki Garcia, John Daly, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris, and Jack Nicklaus.
What happens in Happy Gilmore 2?
In film one and to cut a long story short, Happy Gilmore had a grandma whose house was being repossessed, unless Happy could stump up the money by playing golf to secure her rights to it.
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Happy meets a rival on tour called Shooter McGavin, an arrogant villain who is seemingly the best player on tour but who hasn’t yet won a gold jacket, something that is awarded to the winner of the season-ending event. A spin-off of the Green Jacket at the Masters, really.
All the while, Happy falls in love with Virginia Venit, who works on the tour. Throughout the film, Happy has temper tantrums and fights on the golf course, which is reined in by his coach Chubbs.
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The plot of the second film is that Happy becomes an alcoholic because he accidentally kills his wife. He plunges into debt and loses his grandma’s house again. But this time, he has an army of grown-up children. John Daly lives in his garage, and he picks up the game again to raise money for his daughter Vienna, to go to dance school in Paris.
He comes back to the tour and eventually faces off in a match against the Maxi Golf League, which is a new league started to challenge the established tour. Who could say where the writers got this idea from?
There are several cameos from golfers, such as Nelly Korda who plays a nurse of sorts in the mental institute where we find Shooter McGavin at the start. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau feature heavily in the match against the Maxi League, and the film is full of humour and craziness that is typical of the Happy franchise.
Critical Analysis
I don’t see how or why you would criticise this sequel. The humour is stupid, the plot is nonsensical, and something happens in most scenes that is humanly impossible and entirely unrealistic. But if you look up the definition of Happy Gilmore, that sentence would appear.
About three minutes into the film, his wife is dead, having been hit by a Happy drive. Only this franchise could make this a hysterical concept. There is a scene where Eminem, who plays the son of the guy who shouts ‘Jackass’ in the first film, is eaten alive by alligators, and this is cheered by the crowd surrounding the pond.
There is another scene where Happy and Shooter fight in a cemetery, which contains the graves of all the characters whose actors have passed away since film 1, such as his grandma (Frances Bay), Bob Barker, the crazy lady from the nursing home (Helen Honeywell), and the guy who shouts ‘Jackass’ (Joe Flaherty). Again, only Happy Gilmore could make light of late, much-loved and missed figures associated with the films.
As for the golfers who appeared, John Daly was very funny, playing a character who lives in Happy’s garage. The scenes with Faldo, Nicklaus, Trevino and Couples were entertaining. Xander Schauffele was fun, and so were Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler.
Scheffler stole the show as he was arrested late in the film, with the reference being his dramatic arrest at the PGA Championship in 2024. The ‘Not again’ line is brilliant. With scenes like this, perhaps it might cross the golf line more than the first film. There were in-jokes associated with the golf world that the uninitiated wouldn’t understand, despite being entertained by the first film.
It had plenty of nostalgia, showing scenes from the old film, which I thought were both funny and appropriate. Chubbs’ son has a wooden hand, because of course he does, and the truly bizarre way the film shaped Steve Buscemi into a completely unnecessary and ridiculous character, popping up as a neighbour who urinated in letter boxes, was a nod to the craziness of it all. Well done to everyone involved.
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Is Tiger Woods in Happy Gilmore 2?
Tiger Woods is not in Happy Gilmore 2.
Will Happy Gilmore 2 be in theatres?
Unfortunately, it seems the sequel will not be in cinemas and will be exclusively shown on Netflix. Back in April, the original Happy Gilmore was replayed in US movie theatres to stoke excitement.
Is Travie Kelce in Happy Gilmore 2?
Yes. Travis Kelce is in Happy Gilmore 2. For the uninitiated, Kelce plays American football for the Kansas City Chiefs and is the other half of singing sensation Taylor Swift.
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