When his grandmother’s (Frances Bay) home is repossessed by the IRS Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) sets out to make enough money to buy it back for her.

Happy has desperately wanted to be an ice hockey player since he was a boy and tries out every single year for the local team. The issue though is that his only skill is a wicked slap shot and the ability to dish out and take an awful amount of pain. The fact that he can barely ice skate should have told him a long time ago that he would never make the grade but his personality is not one to consider anything as impossible.

In an angry exchange with the removal men clearing out his grandmother’s house he discovers a talent that may help him make the money he needs. It seems his incredibly powerful slap shot skills give him an unorthodox but insanely powerful golf swing. Whilst betting at the local golf course about his driving abilities he is discovered by ex-golf pro Chubbs (Carl Weathers) who helps him get onto the pro tour. It is here that he quickly becomes rivals with seasoned professional Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald) who hates his uncouth behaviour. But helped by the golf tour’s head of PR Virginia Venit (Julie Bowen) he gets into one final head to head with Shooter that will decide if Happy can save his grandmother’s home.

Happy is one of Sandler’s best creations and his Production company Happy Madison is a combination of the names of his characters in 1994’s Billy Madison and 1995’s Happy Gilmore. Both of which he co-wrote with his friend Tim Herlihy whom he met at University. Those films were the start of an unbelievable run for Sandler in terms of box office success (if not critical success) and Happy has the hallmarks of many of the characters he would continue to play in his comedy forays. A salt of the earth working man with very serious anger management issues and a heart of gold.

Some of the stand out moments are the opening montage where he explains his childhood upbringing and we see his hockey try outs, his duels with Shooter McGavin who eats pieces of shit like him for breakfast and his training montages with Chubbs.

Happy Gilmore is a 92 minute whirlwind of childish humour wrapped inside a sports movie underdog story. In its opening half it has more laughs than most comedies muster in their entire running time, but it does run out of steam in its closing third as it settles on the nuts and bolts of the underdog needing to actually win and finish the story.