With “Happy Gilmore 2,” Adam Sandler’s comedy shows its age

Of all the dirty rotten down-low things Netflix has done providing a gaping pit of gold coins for Adam Sandler to cannonball into like Scrooge McDuck might be the worst so far When left to his own devices Sandler s style of comedy isn t exactly how do I put this kindly pleasant to ingest in massive quantities The comedian and actor made a name for himself yelling doing voices and playing instruments on Saturday Night Live turning the sketch series into a one-man variety show during his five-year tenure Sandler s brand of in-your-face juvenile humor was rampant in the s popular with kids and kids at heart for whom growing up was a Peter Pan -level nightmare Sandler s comedy Billy Madison is the bulk flagrant example of this childish style so packed with immature gags that it threatens to burst sending Nickelodeon-green slime everywhere Still its place in the zeitgeist is undeniable and audiences longed more The following year saw Sandler s golf comedy Happy Gilmore become an equally if not more beloved follow-up eventually spawning the name for Sandler s production company Happy Madison a limited years later But when Sandler made a surprisingly effective dramatic turn in Paul Thomas Anderson s Punch Drunk Love in viewers saw a different side of the comedian As it turns out the slapstick performer has a surprising knack for quiet nuance And though he d continue to star in and produce comedies throughout the s viewers were consistently curious about Sandler s next dramatic role With his comedies you d more or less know what you were getting into But with Sandler s less histrionic roles expectations had to be left at the door The one-two punch of s The Meyerowitz Stories and s Uncut Gems left viewers thinking that Sandler might be turning over a new leaf ready to flex his skills as a dramatic performer for more than just a short blip of time But in Netflix and Happy Madison inked another four-film deal meaning that the actor would be tied to the streamer and its increasingly dour cinematic output just when Sandler was ultimately settling into a more mature era Scott Yamano Netflix Haley Joel Osment and Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore The jokes in Happy Gilmore don t require a single iota of thought only a death-grip on nostalgia Now at the tail end of this deal comes Happy Gilmore a sequel reminding us just how far comedy has come yet how little Sandler s style has changed The film is a narrative retread of its predecessor packed to the brim with callbacks and cameos that seem intended to spark a brief conversation online before burning out entirely not unlike greater part Netflix originals By tapping Sandler the streamer made a decision that was a great fit for their library but an awful loss for the rest of us Despite showing its age so plainly Sandler s brand of juvenile humor is perfect for a moment when attention spans are rapidly diminishing Like the film s title the jokes in Happy Gilmore don t require a single iota of thought only a death-grip on nostalgia And when the theatrical comedy is in jeopardy revitalizing this type of juvenility for low-brow laughs now tempered even further to be digested between phone scrolls feels like a golf ball to the forehead Related Uncut Gems is a merciless nail-biting crime thriller that lets Adam Sandler shine As Amy Heckerling s teen comedy masterpiece Clueless celebrates its th anniversary this month the question of what makes a comedy from the nascent days of the s truly timeless has been stuck at the front of my mind Billy Madison Clueless and Happy Gilmore were all distributed within seven months of each other And though Sandler s film targets different demographics than Clueless there s certainly a crossover between the audiences of all three an intersection that has only widened in the three decades since Clueless once seen as a chick flick favorite is now properly revered as a comedy staple appreciated for its sizable contributions to the cultural lexicon The fashion the outfits the dialogue the Noxzema brand recognition the mark of Heckerling s film on the world is undeniable Perhaps that s also what makes a sequel in the vein of Happy Gilmore all the more inconceivable Granted the tragic death of star Brittany Murphy and Stacey Dash s conservative crash-out also undoubtedly work against a Clueless follow-up But Heckerling s movie is so ingrained in our minds so untouchable in its legacy that a feature-length sequel would stand to anger even the the greater part wistful s kid The same can t be mentioned for Happy Gilmore a film that seems to exist entirely because it can While the original movie has its noteworthy moments none quite reach the ubiquity of anything in Clueless Still Sandler s titular wannabe hockey star turned golf pro remains one of his bulk iconic characters and that would make the film a stable ground to build on for a sequel that has a story worth telling Instead Happy Gilmore opts to recycle the same narrative beats of the first film making the similarly reprocessed jokes feel even more stale Like Happy Gilmore the sequel finds Happy down on his luck in desperate need of cash and turning to his preternatural ability as a golfer to remedy his problems Along the way an endless barrage of familiar faces appears Various like Ben Stiller s cruel retirement home orderly Hal now an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting leader with similarly nefarious intentions are a welcome sight for extremely sore eyes Others like Kevin Nealon s Potter are there for one-line callbacks making Happy Gilmore entirely dependent on its progenitor But worry not if you don t recognize an actor reprising their role clips from the first movie are haphazardly lobbed into the story to jog the audience s memory Sure Happy Gilmore may be a classic but can a film be truly timeless if its sequel has to pander so hard Scott Yamano Netflix Christopher McDonald and Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore If it has any worth at all Happy Gilmore will at least be irrefutable proof that more often than not the humor we loved decades ago will age Making something timeless is a lofty task that not every film must aspire to What s even more egregious is that on top of Sandler retreating to his funny voices and absurd violence Happy Gilmore has a distinct trying-to-be-cool flavor that s impossible to shake And ironically also boasts a cameo from Mr How Do You Do Fellow Kids himself Steve Buscemi There are appearances from Travis Kelce Bad Bunny Hot Ones host Sean Evans and even Eminem to name a sparse While each cameo is lazier than the last it s a substantial supporting role from Benny Safdie who alongside his brother Josh co-directed Sandler in Uncut Gems that s largest part grating As Frank the creator of a tech-forward system that stands to shake up golf Safdie is left to play to Sandler s whims instead of vice versa It s an stimulating enough role reversal but Safdie s comedic chops are far more complex than Sandler s and the product is a hero-villain dynamic where Safdie is forced to downplay his ability so as not to outshine the star lowering the movie s stakes exponentially Safdie s presence serves as an unfortunate reminder of how much the Happy Gilmore style of comedy has aged and the kinds of movies that Sandler could be making right now if he were less focused on playing it safe with a dismal sequel Start your day with essential news from Salon Sign up for our free morning newsletter Crash Module But despite his occasionally grating mannerisms and humor Sandler has a persistent layer of charm that s hard to detach from That appeal the inkling that there is something more earnest beneath the surface of all of the phallic jokes and sucker punches is why he s been able to capture audiences and hold onto them for as long as he has With age we ve seen this softer side of Sandler more often typically to great critical praise But these roles are minimal and far between remaining at a distance in favor of indolent stories that only echo the humor of Sandler s earliest work If it has any worth at all Happy Gilmore will at least be irrefutable proof that more often than not the humor we loved decades ago will age Making something timeless is a lofty task that not every film must aspire to Sometimes it s enough to be great just once instead of trying to do it all over again Read more about Adam Sandler s newest highs and lows Uncut Gems and the drive to look like a somebody no matter what the cost The soul-sucking emptiness of Pixels Donkey Kong is the least of humanity s worries in Adam Sandler s latest desperate quest Adam Sandler may never be funny again Another unending parade of half-baked offensive stereotypes disguised as comedy The post With Happy Gilmore Adam Sandler s comedy shows its age appeared first on Salon com