credit: Happy Gilmore
The best thing so far that can be said about this idea is that there’s nothing concrete, and it’s a rumor and a wisp of a plan at this time. But even catching wind of that is enough for some people, myself included, to ask why it would ever be a possibility. According to rumors, it would appear that Adam Sandler might want to see Happy as an old man who is still learning how to put a cap on his temper and is now attending a senior golf tournament. Okay, so kind of like the first movie, but without grandma, obviously, or with a couple of other characters since Chubbs might be able to come back as a spirit to inspire Happy, but Frances Bay, aka Grandma, passed away back in 2011, and Richard Kiel, who played the monstrous, but good-hearted Mr. Larson, passed away in 2014. Also, would Julie Bowen and Christopher McDonald want to come back? Would Allen Covert? That feels like a dumb question since they might very well be ready and willing, but it feels kind of silly to think that Shooter McGavin would come back as the villain since he was already beaten in the first movie. Plus, here’s a better reason: the first movie ended on a great note.
credit: Happy Gilmore
The desire to pick up where one movie left off and create something that might be lacking a serious amount of detail is kind of hard to put up with.
There are some movies and series that can be picked up decades later and embraced just as much as they were when they first came around. But seeing how it’s been 26 years since the first movie came out, it’s very likely that some people would be excited, but others are already shaking their heads. If it did find purchase, it might be better off as a streaming movie since Happy was a great character, but these days it feels like some of the jokes would fall flat and perhaps even be seen as toxic. Like it or not, a great deal has changed since the 90s, as the jokes that a lot of people still think of as funny and endearing are being labeled as giant no-nos in the movies now. Or at least that’s what a lot of people are trying to do since if one looks at some of the movies that have come out in recent years, they’re every bit as raunchy and controversial.
Happy Gilmore deserves to be a one-and-done type of movie, it stands alone just fine.
One thing Hollywood is almost never interested in doing is passing up the chance to make even a little bit of money if there’s the opportunity. One might think that some movies are able to stand on their own and be counted as good enough to leave alone without any thought of a sequel, prequel, or remake, but that’s where a lot of us mess up: we think for ourselves. If there’s a cent to be made from a movie that people enjoyed the first time around, there’s bound to be someone in Hollywood that’s willing to make it since they firmly believe that people will get behind the idea and call it one of the best that’s ever been thought up. Another seriously negative part of this is that there are people who will do this, quite a few of them in fact. They’ll kiss Hollywood’s backside and say that it’s one of the best ideas since sliced bread or Betty White (if you get the joke) and will go full tilt in stating that yes, it’s genius, it’s amazing, it’s blah, blah, blah. The truth is that they know people want to stay in their comfort zone as much as possible, and this is what a sequel gives them.
credit: Happy Gilmore
Adam Sandler has shown that he has range. Why not keep working on that image?
It’s tough to fault a person for having ideas since the truth is that innovation and creativity aren’t dead in Hollywood, but they are in short supply since too many people feel like going back to the well whenever they need a fresh idea. This practice has been done for so long, though, that it’s become a bad habit since that particular well has become a poisoned sludge that’s not producing much more than tired ideas that have been seen dozens of times before. But like I mentioned above, there are too many people willing to do anything to make money, and so the butt-kissing and sycophancy begin. Yes, it’s cynical, but unfortunately, there’s a lot of truth to it.
Leaving Happy Gilmore alone is akin to allowing a work of art to stand on its own; it just makes sense.
That says a lot, to be certain, since for its own time and even now, Happy Gilmore is one of the many movies that can stand on its own two feet and be called a masterpiece. Sure, it’s crude. Sure, it’s dated and definitely the type of humor that Sandler was once known for, but that’s what makes it great.