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Happy Gilmore
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OverviewAI-generated
Happy Gilmore is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan. The screenplay was written by Adam Sandler and Tim Herlihy, with Robert Simonds serving as producer. The cast includes Adam Sandler, Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald, and Carl Weathers. Mark Mothersbaugh composed the music, while Arthur Albert handled cinematography and Jeff Gourson edited the film. The movie is in English and focuses on the sport of golf.
Filmed in San Francisco and Vancouver, the film has a runtime of 91 or 92 minutes. It was distributed by Universal Pictures and Netflix, with Brillstein-Grey Entertainment and Robert Simonds Productions also involved in production. The film was released on February 16, 1996, and May 30, 1996. Its tagline reads, "He doesn't play golf... he destroys it."
The film has received various ratings, including 7.0 on IMDb, 6.677 on TMDb, and scores of 5.8/10, 62%, and 31/100 from other sources. It was followed by Happy Gilmore 2.
Synthesized by Vinony from 40 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, IMDb, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film · TMDB
6.7Failed hockey player-turned-golf whiz Happy Gilmore — whose unconventional approach and antics on the green courts the ire of rival Shooter McGavin — is determined to win a PGA tournament so he can save his granny's house with the prize money. Meanwhile, an attractive tour publicist tries to soften Happy's image.
Cast
- Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore
- Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin
- Julie Bowen as Virginia Venit
- Frances Bay as Grandma
- Carl Weathers as Chubbs Peterson
- Allen Covert as Otto
Themes
- sports
- loss of loved one
- golf
- taxes
- class differences
- prize money
- driving range
- rich snob
- anger issues
- old-age home
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Key facts
- Directed by
- Dennis Dugan
- Written by
- Tim Herlihy Adam Sandler
- Produced by
- Robert Simonds
- Starring
- Adam Sandler Christopher McDonald Julie Bowen Carl Weathers
- Cinematography
- Arthur Albert
- Edited by
- Jeff Gourson
- Music by
- Mark Mothersbaugh
- Production companies
- Brillstein-Grey Entertainment Robert Simonds Productions
- Distributed by
- Universal Pictures
- Release date
- February 16, 1996 ( 1996-02-16 )
- Running time
- 92 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Budget
- $12 million
- Box office
- $41.4 million
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- film
- Genre
- comedy film
- Country of origin
- United States
- Original language
- English language
- Followed by
- Happy Gilmore 2
- Main subject
- golf
- Director
- Dennis Dugan
- Screenwriter
- Adam Sandler
- Cast member
- Ellie Harvie
- Composer
- Mark Mothersbaugh
- Producer
- Robert Simonds
- Cinematographer
- Arthur Albert
- Filming location
- Vancouver
- Duration
- 91
- FilmAffinity ID
- 685205
- Distribution format
- video on demand
- Sport
- golf
- Official website
- www.uphe.com/movies/happy-gilmore
Show 8 more facts
- publication date
- 1996-02-16
- film editor
- Jeff Gourson
- title
- Happy Gilmore
- distributed by
- Netflix
- review score
- 31/100
- assessment
- Bechdel test
- capital cost
- 12000000
- box office
- 41422354
Sources (13)
via Wikidata · CC0
~17 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Happy Gilmore is a 1996 American sports comedy film starring Adam Sandler in the title role. Directed by Dennis Dugan and produced by Robert Simonds, the supporting cast includes Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen, and Carl Weathers. The film follows Happy Gilmore, a boorish, failed ice hockey player with a unique talent for golf, who seeks to raise enough money to prevent the foreclosure of his grandmother's house.
The screenplay was written by Sandler and his writing partner Tim Herlihy, in their second feature collaboration after the previous year's Billy Madison. This film also marks the first collaboration between Sandler and Dugan. Happy Gilmore was released in theaters on February 16, 1996, by Universal Pictures, and received mixed reviews from critics. The film was a commercial success, earning $41.4 million on a $12 million budget, and it won an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight for Sandler and Bob Barker. It has developed a cult following, especially in the golf community. A sequel, Happy Gilmore 2, was released on Netflix in 2025.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Happy Gilmore” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.