“Happy Gilmore 2” is out on Netflix and is the sequel that fans of the original movie from 1996 never knew they needed. The movie reprises a lot of familiar faces from the first movie but has that new age feel. The plot and characterization make “Happy Gilmore 2” a great film for a new age of viewers.
Adam Sandler reprises his role of Happy Gilmore, who finds himself in a midlife crisis and even gives up golf. Gilmore must save the day again, with both the game of golf and his daughter’s future at hand.
Gilmore finds himself being an alcoholic which holds back every part of his life. He uses random objects that were flasks in disguise, like a television remote, a cucumber at the supermarket, a golf ball, and a smartphone.
Sandler’s acting in this film has a different feeling than the first due to the struggle of grief and alcohol abuse. An older Gilmore now carries the weight of five kids and the added pressure of finding a way to pay for his daughter’s ballet school. Viewers see Gilmore as a regular person as he deals with grief and alcoholism just as well as any other person.
Both Sadie and Sunny Sandler, Adam Sandler’s daughters, played in the movie, and their connection was the best on screen to Gilmore. Sunny plays his daughter, and Sadie plays a recovering addict who is in the same Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting as him. Both made their on-screen lives feel real in interacting with Gilmore as their father figure.
Sunny, otherwise known as Vienna Gilmore, gives emotional support to Gilmore and even helps him deal with his grief and clean up his hidden alcohol bottles throughout the house. The way that she didn’t let Gilmore’s problems hurt their characters’ relationship shows her sincerity. Sunny in her role assures Gilmore that his wife would want him to stand for what he believes in—she even puts him to bed and makes food like his late grandmother from the original film.
Sadie’s character, who is just another person in the same AA class, finds comfort in Gilmore and confides in him about the inspiration he creates. She even helps bust the reformed nursing home nurse-turned-AA counselor, Hal L., who was making his class do unnecessary labor.
Bad Bunny plays Oscar, who is one of the best characters. Gilmore quickly hires him as a caddy, just like he did at a game in the original film. The character provides great comedic relief.
Christopher McDonald reprises his role of Shooter McGavin and brings the character to realization over his life. Viewers get introduced to McGavin’s psychotic persona. He later reforms himself, though, after seeing that the entire sport of golf is at stake, and even joins Gilmore, who is his longtime opponent. McGavin’s character goes through a similar experience to Gilmore, showing that he needed a revelation in his life.
There were several added comedic relief characters that are honorable mentions, like John Daily, Kevin Nealon, and Kym Whitley, but the best was Eminem. He played the son of the man who shouted “jackass” during games Gilmore was golfing at in the original film. It was very unexpected to see him act as this extreme heckler—and in this movie of all films.
The plot makes it easy for all viewers to understand this film and is incomparable to the original. We get a monologue from Gilmore set to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Tuesday’s Gone,” introducing the plot and summarizing the first film followed by setting up Gilmore’s reason to pick up the golf clubs again. Both films are great in their own ways, but the sequel’s plot stands alone, most notably for its characters’ intentions to success.
“Happy Gilmore 2” revives a classic for a new age of viewers to experience how Gilmore overcomes problems in his life. With Adam Sandler’s return to the character as a grief-stricken middle-aged man facing different problems symbolizes the growth of everyone in this film. This sequel reconciled differences between characters, bringing them together in contrast to the original. But it wasn’t done in the name of tying lose ends and bringing in new plot points. They all had a reason to stand together to save something they love: golf.