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Happy Gilmore is a 1996 American sports comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, produced by Robert Simonds, and starring Adam Sandler in the title role, Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen and Carl Weathers. It tells the story of an unsuccessful ice hockey player who discovers a newfound talent for golf and competes in a golfing tournament to save his grandmother's home from foreclosure. The screenplay was written by Sandler and his writing partner Tim Herlihy, in their second feature collaboration after the previous year's Billy Madison. The film also marks the first of several collaborations between Sandler and Dugan. Happy Gilmore was released in theaters on February 16, 1996, by Universal Pictures. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film was a commercial success, earning $39 million on a $12 million budget, and it won an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight for Sandler and Bob Barker. Plot Happy Gilmore is a short-tempered, unsuccessful ice hockey player whose only skills are fighting and a powerful slapshot he learned from his late father. His inability to skate limits his professional prospects. When he returns home after yet another failed tryout, his girlfriend, Terry, a kindergarten teacher, leaves him because of his lack of success. The next day, Happy learns that his grandmother owes the IRS $270,000 in back taxes; she has 90 days to pay off the debt or face foreclosure on her house. Happy sends his grandmother to a retirement home, where residents are secretly mistreated, until he can figure out a way to pay off the debt. Two movers repossessing Happy's grandmother's furniture challenge him to a long-drive contest using his grandfather's old golf clubs. With an unorthodox, slapshot-style swing, Happy hits a ball some 400 yards three times in a row, winning $40 from the movers. He then decides to start hustling golfers at a driving range and meets Chubbs Peterson, a former professional golf tour star who lost a hand in an alligator attack. Chubbs urges Happy to enter a local tournament where the winner will earn an automatic spot on the tour; Happy, desperate to get back his grandmother's house, agrees when Chubbs informs him of the significant prize money involved. Happy wins the tournament and quickly becomes a fan favorite on the tour thanks to his extraordinarily long drives and unorthodox antics. He also meets arrogant pro Shooter McGavin, the dominant player on tour, who disapproves of Happy's lack of golf etiquette. Though his driving is incredible, Happy's putting is terrible, and his profane on-course tantrums soon draw the ire of tour Commissioner Doug Thompson. Tour public relations head Virginia Venit intervenes and persuades Thompson not to expel Happy from the tour, citing improved television ratings with a broader spectrum of viewers, higher attendance, and new sponsorship offers; she promises to help Happy with his anger. Happy improves his performance and behavior with Virginia's support, and the two form a romantic connection. Shooter hires a heckler named Donald to taunt Happy at a Pepsi Pro-Am event in San Francisco; Happy plays poorly as a result of Donald's heckling, leading to a fistfight with his celebrity partner, Bob Barker. In a subsequent meeting about the brawl, Thompson decides not to expel Happy because of the high television ratings of the tournament, but still punishes him with a one month suspension and a $25,000 fine. Virginia secures Happy a lucrative endorsement deal with Subway to make up for the lost revenue, but Grandma Gilmore's house is still put up for auction by the IRS. Shooter, made aware of Grandma's situation, spitefully outbids Happy to buy the house. Happy strikes a deal with Shooter for the upcoming Tour Championship: If Happy wins, Shooter will return the house to Grandma, but if Shooter wins, Happy will quit the tour. Knowing he must improve his short game to win, Happy seeks out Chubbs, who helps Happy improve his putting by practicing at a miniature golf course. As thanks, Happy presents Chubbs with the head of the alligator that bit off his hand, but a startled Chubbs falls out a window to his death. Now determined to win the Tour Championship for Chubbs and his grandmother, Happy plays well and leads at the end of the third round. Shooter, desperate to finally win a Tour Championship and get rid of Happy, again hires Donald, who drives a car onto the course and runs over Happy, impairing his long-drive ability and focus. Shooter takes the lead, but Happy, encouraged by his grandmother, rallies to tie him. On the 18th hole, a television tower damaged by Donald's car falls onto the green and blocks Happy's line to the hole, but Happy miraculously uses it as a Rube Goldberg machine to sink his putt for the win. Enraged, Shooter tries to steal Happy's gold jacket but is beaten by a mob of fans led by Happy's imposing ex-boss, Mr. Larson. Happy, Grandma Gilmore, his caddy, and Virginia celebrate at his grandmother's house, where Happy sees a vision of a two-handed Chubbs with Abraham Lincoln and the alligator waving to him in the heavens above. Cast Production Development Happy Gilmore was directed by Dennis Dugan, and written by Saturday Night Live (SNL) alumni Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler. Herlihy and Sandler were roommates in college and wrote stand-up comedy together, before moving on to screenplays. After Sandler was fired from SNL in 1995, he moved on to films. He and Herlihy wrote Billy Madison (1995), which proved successful for distributor Universal Pictures. As such, Herlihy and Sandler began a new project. In an office during a brainstorming session, they came up with a high-concept premise for a film about a "hockey player who smacks a 400 yard drive". Judd Apatow performed a script rewrite, although he went uncredited. The Happy Gilmore character is loosely based on Sandler's childhood friend Kyle McDonough, who played ice hockey and would golf with Sandler as they grew up. Sandler could never hit the ball as far as McDonough, and figured that McDonough's hockey skills gave him an edge. Meanwhile, Chubbs Peterson's missing hand is an in-joke referencing actor Carl Weathers' film Predator (1987), which depicts his character losing his arm. Herlihy and Sandler included any joke that made them laugh and do not remember who came up with which, although Herlihy takes credit for Shooter McGavin's "I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast" line. In a 1994 interview, Sandler cited the golf comedy Caddyshack (1980), a film he and Herlihy bonded over in college, as inspiration. Former pro golfer Mark Lye served as a consultant on the script, and told Herlihy and Sandler after seeing their initial ideas, "You gotta be crazy. You cannot do a movie like that." According to Lye, the initial drafts featured Happy winning the Masters Tournament: "They had the green jacket. They were desecrating the USGA. Making fun of Augusta National." He suggested that Happy win a fictional tournament, and H.... Discover the Anthony Gilmore popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Anthony Gilmore books.