THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 1996 TAG: 9602220045
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
WHEN DONALD DUCK threw a temper tantrum, it was funny.
When Ralph Kramden lost his cool and threatened to send Alice ``to the moon,'' it was hilarious.
You can't say quite the same for Happy Gilmore, the mean-spirited and violent hero of the new golf comedy that bears his name. As played, much too heavily, by Adam Sandler, Happy is a bully who needs a psychiatrist more than a coach.
``Happy Gilmore'' is the second sick ``comedy'' to open this week. The other certifiably weird comedic effort was ``Mr. Wrong,'' which sought humor in a woman stalked by a psychotic ``date.'' ``Happy Gilmore'' is not as bad as ``Mr. Wrong'' but it does suggest that people-bashing is hilarious.
Hollywood seems to think every ``Saturday Night Live'' cast member should get at least two feature films. The hapless parade of ``SNL'' alumni into films has proved that selling a skit is not the same thing as carrying a feature movie.
Sandler, more than some of the other ``SNL'' veterans, shows real comedic promise when he's asked to suggest youthful wackiness. He was promising in his small role in the underrated ``Airheads.'' In brief TV skits, he was diverting as ``Opera Man,'' ``Canteen Boy'' and ``Cajun Man.'' He was less promising in his starring movie debut, the silly ``Billy Madison.''
``Happy Gilmore,'' which he co-wrote, had possibilities to become a class warfare satire. In it, a macho hockey player (who is good at scoring, but can't skate) becomes a rough-and-tumble golf player who draws the so-called riff-raff of the world to the ``gentleman's sport.''
There's a real chance to lambast social pomposity as the working-class kid takes over the clubhouse. Instead, all we get are knockabout assaults, any one of which should have landed Happy in jail.
The interesting thing is that the role of Happy Gilmore becomes something close to a fully developed character rather than just a clownish extreme. In the course of the film, Happy learns to curb his temper and calm himself to make those big putts. With a little rewriting, ``Happy Gilmore'' might have become a psychological drama of some interest.
It's no ``Caddyshack.'' It's not nearly over-the-top and manic enough for that. And for a more serious look at golfing, you'll have to wait for Kevin Costner in ``Tin Cup'' later this year.
Caught somewhere in the middle, we know ``Happy Gilmore'' is in real trouble when the big comedic scene turns out to be one in which the youthful hero attacks aging Bob Barker of ``The Price is Right.'' ILLUSTRATION: UNIVERSAL PICTURES
When Bob Barker and Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) team up, the game
of golf becomes a contact sport in ``Happy Gilmore.''
MOVIE REVIEW
``Happy Gilmore''
Cast: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Bob Barker, Richard
Kiel
Director: Dennis Dugan
Screenplay: Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler
MPAA rating: PG-13 (language, sexual innuendoes)
Mal's rating: **
Locations: Chesapeake Square in Chesapeake; Janaf, Main Gate in
Norfolk; Kemps River, Lynnhaven 8, Pembroke, Surf-N-Sand in Virginia
Beach
by CNB