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76
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60
9
17
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37
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53
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66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
xx
Fantastic Mr. Fox
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
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88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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58
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96
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56
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72
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39
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78
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61
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66
Afterschool
xx
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58
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72
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73
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62
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55
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76
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86
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13
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70
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35
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71
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66
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51
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76
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26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
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45
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81
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45
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xx
Carriers
55
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62
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65
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69
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82
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75
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82
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67
Departures
xx
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71
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Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
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85
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55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
66
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
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73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
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89
Still Walking![]()
50
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55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
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66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Happy Gilmore

Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 30 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by:
Tim Herlihy
Adam Sandler
Directed by: Dennis Dugan
Release Date:
Theatrical: February 16, 1996
DVD: February 24, 1998
Running Time: 92 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for language and some comic sexuality
Starring Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen, Frances Bay, Carl Weathers, Allen Covert, Robert Smigel, and Bob Barker
When a would-be hockey player (Sandler) hits a golf ball 400 yards, he realizes that his true calling is in pro golf, so he trades in his skates for a 3-wood and a tee, and joins the PGA tour.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Beverly Hills Ninja Big Daddy National Security Saving Silverman The Benchwarmers You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
USA Today Mike Clark
Slap Happy. [16 February 1996, p.D4]
Empire Darren Bignell
The real surprise is that it's a lot of fun, with Sandler becoming more personable as the film progresses, and a couple of truly side-splitting scenes.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Richard Harrington
A genial and surprisingly self-contained performance by Adam Sandler.
Read Full Review >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 >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 >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 >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 >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Adam Sandler stars in a one-joke Caddyshack for the blitzed and jaded.
Read Full Review >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 >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 30 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jesse H gave it a10:
The critics must've been on some pretty heavy shit, because this movie is fantastic. I laugh like hell every time I watch it.
Morgan F gave it a6:
Um, hello? It's Adam Sandler, people. What do you expect?
Jack P gave it a10:
A hilarious Adam Sandler comedy. It is probably the best. The main laughs come from two costars. One is Kevin Nealon as a crazy but insightive golf player. The other one is Ben Stiller as the evil worker at a retirement home that Happy's grandmother temporarily lives at. But even without them, this movie would still be hilarious, they just add a lot of extra laughs.
Brad B gave it a10:
I dunno what the critics were on, but this was an excellent movie! Seriously, the critics need to stop being such hardasses and learn to laugh.
Tony C gave it a10:
A 31? Are you serious? This is one of Adam Sandler's best movies of all-time, a heartwarming comedy about an ex-hockey player who finds his way into golf, a new love life, a mentor who is willing to help him, and goes to these golf tournaments to schmooze with snooty upper class types so he could help his grandma pay off taxes for the house. An all-around great, and hilarious movie. To critics who don't get this, I say, "So long, sucka!" KABOOM!!!
Andrew N gave it a5:
Comical but ultimately shallow and brainless entertainment. To be honest its an affront to the sport of golf. Its just like a sweet. Tasty on the outside but lacks lack substance underneath. Still this is Sandlers best movie. Not that that says much. Hardly worth watching.
Nathaniel gave it a10:
My favorite movie of all time. Critics just love to hate and do not know comedy. Period. I'd love to see one of these critics write a script that could even hold a candle to a movie like Happy Gilmore. If a crtic tried to write a comedy they'd just get washed up in their own personal griefs. Lighten up, seriously. Get back to getting off on a "riveting" film. Man, I hate critics.
