Happy GilmoreMovie Reviews

Gifts + Promos

Fandango Gift Card

Give the gift of movies with Fandango Bucks Gift Certificates! Design your own gift card, or choose from our collection.

Rock of Ages GWP

Buy Rock of Ages tickets to any Regal Theater Showing & receive a FREE song download!

Madagascar 3 Sweeps

Enter for a chance to win a wild family getaway to San Diego!

Need Help?
No
Avg. Critic Score: 31 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 Iffy for 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 63
    USA Today | Mike Clark

    Slap Happy. [16 February 1996, p.D4] Read full review

  • 50
    Christian Science Monitor | David Sterritt

    Adam Sandler is funny as the volatile hero, and the screenplay is just abrasive enough to keep the story surprising. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Edward Guthmann

    It may smell awful from a distance, especially if you have low tolerance for lowbrow humor, but up close this yarn about an unlikely golf star is fairly painless. Read full review

  • 50
    Washington Post |

    A genial and surprisingly self-contained performance by Adam Sandler. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Thomas

    The result is a movie that's hard to laugh at when its hero would surely be either in jail or perhaps even a mental institution were he to behave the way he does on screen in real life. Read full review

  • 38
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    Tells the story of a violent sociopath. Since it's about golf, that makes it a comedy. Read full review

  • 33
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Adam Sandler stars in a one-joke Caddyshack for the blitzed and jaded. Read full review

  • 30
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    Doesn't deliver. Read full review

  • 11
    Austin Chronicle |

    A lame, unoriginal comedy. Read full review

  • 10
    Variety | Brian Lowry

    Added together, there are about three minutes of funny material in Happy Gilmore, and pretty much all of them are in the trailer, leaving a sometimes painfully unfunny 90 minutes with which to contend. Read full review

View more reviews for Happy Gilmore on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 13+ Adolescent humor at its best/worst. Lots of profanity.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that the biggest red flag for this movie is the cursing and violent behavior of Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler). His short fuse results in a number of skirmishes, including an extended (comic) fight scene with Bob Barker. The two brutally pound on each other until Gilmore is eventually knocked unconscious. Another scene has Gilmore threaten another golfer with the shards of a broken beer bottle. The profanity shies away from sexual comments, and is comprised mostly of the F word and the S word. Kids will enjoy Sandler's over-the-top and abrasive humor, as well as the ongoing joke of a golfer's handicapped hand that had been eaten by an alligator.
  • Families can talk about Sandler's character. His best friends in the film include a physically challenged ex-pro golfer, a homeless man, an amiable public relations woman, and his sweet grandmother. In addition, Gilmore earns a lot of money through his golf tournament wins with the goal of saving his grandmother's house. Do these sweet-natured friendships and altruistic deeds make up for his violent behavior? Is it the humor or the violence that makes Adam Sandler films so popular?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Protagonist is violent and uses a lot of profanity, but has a good heart.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Violence is portrayed in a comic manner. A couple of fistfights, protagonist threatens another person with a broken bottle.
  • sex false3 Sex: Masturbation references, protagonist has fantasy of a woman in lingerie.
  • language false4 Language: Lots of profanity.
  • consumerism false4 Consumerism: Continuous references to Pepsi and Subway, but it's used more as a jab to commercialism than promoting commercialism.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2 Drinking, drugs and smoking: For the most part minimal, but there are a couple scenes of golf spectators chugging beer.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Facebook Movie Fans

Fan Fandango on Facebook