Happy Gilmore

Name: Happy Gilmore
Item: Happy Gilmore
Rating: 3
Author: Alex Orner

Movie review by

Alex Orner, Common Sense Media

Popular with kidsParents recommend

Common Sense says

age 14+

(i)

Adolescent humor at its best/worst. Lots of profanity.

PG-13
1996
92 minutes

Save

Rate movie

Watch or buy

Parents say

age 11+

Based on 21 reviews

Kids say

age 12+

Based on 95 reviews

Get it now

Searching for streaming and purchasing options ...

Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free.

Get it now on

Searching for streaming and purchasing options ...

X of Y

Official trailer

Happy Gilmore

X of Y

A lot or a little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

Positive Messages

In its own silly way, the movie shows the importance of controlling one's temper, in golf and in life.

Positive Role Models & Representations

Although he's shown -- comically -- as a frustrated hockey player trying to learn golf, Happy Gilmore also is a loving grandson who begins to learn to control his emotions.

Violence

As a frustrated hockey player, Happy GIlmore frequently (and comically) resorts to violence when he loses his temper. He gets into an over-the-top fistfight with the game show host Bob Barker. He throws a man through a glass door. He also is shown breaking a bottle and threatening to fight the antagonist of the movie.

Sex

When asked to go to his "happy place," Happy has a fantasy of the lead actress in a park on a bed, dressed in lingerie and holding two pitchers of beer. As he starts to get famous, Happy is shown autographing the cleavage of a young woman and then an elderly woman.

Language

Frequent profanity: "f--k," "piss," "jackass," "dips--t," "goddammit," "a--hole," "s--t," "bastard." While losing, Happy is shown going on a foul-mouthed tirade on national television where every other word is bleeped out.

Consumerism

Frequent and unrelenting product placement of Subway subs, in the form of hats, T-shirts, signs, commercials, and a scene where two of the main characters are eating at a Subway restaurant. The various golf tournaments are sponsored by AT&T, Michelob, Visa, and Pepsi.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Characters are shown drinking beer, wine, and martinis. People attending the golf tournaments are shown drinking beer; Happy's caddy is shown wearing a hat that holds a six-pack of beer with plastic tubes going from the beer to his mouth. Cigar smoking.

Set limits for violence and more with Plus

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 composed mostly of "f--k" and "s--t." Older kids will enjoy Sandler's over-the-top and abrasive humor, as well as the ongoing joke of a golfer's handicapped hand that was eaten by an alligator.

Wondering if Happy Gilmore is OK for your kids?

Set preferences and get age-appropriate recommendations with Common Sense Media Plus. Join now

User Reviews

Parents say
Kids say

Adult Written byRgasper January 24, 2016

age 10+

Adam Sandlers best movie

Needless to say, there is a lot of swearing in this movie. But, it is an Adam Sandler movie, so what does one really expect?
Terrible hockey player turned temp... Continue reading

Report this review

Parent of a 8-year-old Written byOllie_review February 21, 2020

age 13+

Happy Gilmore is Hilarious!

Happy Gilmore was pretty funny. In multiple scenes he swears at a camera, though it is beeped out. S**t, F**k and Jackass are used lots. Naked body parts and se... Continue reading

Report this review

Teen, 13 years old Written byTeen Rater January 2, 2020

age 13+

Good Adam Sandler Movie, good amount of swearing

This movie was very good, I’d recommend it to anyone. However, lots of language, especially the s word.(no f words except being able to make them out through ce... Continue reading

Report this review

Kid, 11 years old November 11, 2014

age 11+

Typical Adam Sandler, in other words it's not funny

Violence- 2 (Mild Comedic Violence)
Sex- 2 (Mild Themes)
Language- 4 (Moderate Coarse Language)

Report this review

What's the story?

What happens when you take a psychotic hockey player who holds the only league record of trying to stab somebody with his skate and throw him on the links with tranquil golfers? Adam Sandler is in one of his funniest roles as Happy Gilmore, a man with a hard, aggressive core and a surprisingly sweet center. After hearing that his grandmother has lost her house due to back taxes, Gilmore is forced to come up with $270,000 to save it. Despite the maniacal hockey player's thunderous slap shot, Gilmore can't skate worth a dime and thus seeks alternatives to raise money for his beloved grandmother. Under the guidance of "Chubbs," an ex-pro golfer who lost his hand to an alligator, Gilmore surges up the golf circuit and knocks out his competition.

Is it any good?

Second only to Billy Madison, HAPPY GILMORE stands out as one of Adam Sandler's best works. The movie pokes fun at the rather "stiff" golf world and spices it up with a character that makes Mike Tyson look like a level-headed individual. Anyone and everything sets Sandler into a crippling fury. For anyone who's seen Sandler's work from the mid-'90s (SNL or Billy Madison), the film's humor becomes quite predictable, but kids are likely to enjoy it. Appropriate for older teens.

Talk to your kids about ...

Families can talk about Sandler's character. His best friends 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?
Why do you think there's so much product placement for Subway subs in this movie?
Was the violence in the movie appropriate for what was happening in the story and with the character, or did it seem gratuitous?

Movie details

In theaters: February 16, 1996
On DVD or streaming: February 24, 1998
Cast: Adam Sandler, Carl Weathers, Christopher McDonald
Director: Dennis Dugan
Studio: Universal Pictures
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: language and some comic sexuality
Last updated: September 21, 2019

For kids who love comedy

Best Classic Comedy Films

See all recommended movie lists

Our editors recommend

Billy Madison

Goofy comedy with immature humor, profanity, sex jokes.

age 13+

Dumb and Dumber

The caviar of low-brow, gross-out comedy.

age 13+

The Jerk

Classic Steve Martin comedy with frequent profanity.

age 16+

Or browse by category:

Happy Gilmore

Common Sense says

Parents say