Netflix movie of the day: Adam Sandler is an unlikely golf hero in the smash hit sports comedy Happy Gilmore

The movie that put Adam Sandler on the Hollywood map has a sequel coming soon

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

It’s a good time to watch the originalHappy Gilmore, the 1996 hit that sent Adam Sandler into the stratosphere, especiallywith a surprise sequel filming this year. It does for sports whatAirplane!did for airlines, delivering a gag-packed sports comedy about a down on his luck hockey player who becomes a golf pro to save his grandma’s house. For many fans, it’s Sandler’s best movie and you can watch it now onNetflix.

Is Happy Gilmore funny?

That very much depends on your sense of humor, which many critics clearly didn’t share with the movie.

Entertainment Weeklycalled it a “one-jokeCaddyshack” andVarietysaid it had “about three minutes of funny material” in total. ButThe New York Daily Newswas more generous: “The comedy is never more than sudden, outsized explosions of violence from the otherwise placid, childlike Happy. But director Dugan maximizes the laughs through careful timing and counterpoint.”

Time Outcalled it a “superior disposable comedy”, whileUSA Today’s Mike Clarkwrote that “the story has all the thickness of a well-trimmed green, but it’s a decent excuse for some heady sight gags”. According to theHouston Chronicle’sreview: “Sandler plays this a lot smarter than, say, a Jim Carrey character, and with less slapstick. Still, this is not delicate, subtle stuff: It’s smart low-brow, and only for those who like their humor a bit offbeat.”

Empiresaid that while it’s far from perfect “there’s a couple of truly side-splitting scenes. And there’s a nice edge to the McEnroe-style histrionics because, at the end of the day, it’s exactly what most spectators would really love to see on the fairway.”

You might also like

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.

‘That was never the plan’: Arcane creators dismiss claims that the hit Netflix show was going to run for five seasons

Arcane season 2 was reportedly going to run for five seasons, so why is my all-time favorite Netflix show ending after two?

The 6 best electric motorcycle concepts and launches from EICMA 2024