Happy Gilmore 2—Fun Romp with Poignant Themes

Happy Gilmore 2, the sequel to one of Adam Sandler’s most famous films, rejoins the eponymous Happy thirty years into the future. While Happy’s golf career was successful for nearly 20 years, his life took a turn for the worse after a stray golf ball (which he hit) killed his wife, leaving him as an alcoholic father of five children.

Now, 11 years after his wife’s death, Happy is forced to get back into golfing for the same reason he started in the first place‑to help his family afford the things that matter to them. While in 1996 this was his grandmother’s house, in 2025 Happy hopes to send his youngest child (and only daughter) to an elite ballet school. This coincides with the start of Maxi Golf, a silly, high energy version of golf led by influencer and energy drink CEO Frank Manatee (Benny Safdie). Happy and the “real” golfers must win a competition against the Maxi golfers in order to preserve golf as we know it.

There’s been so much bad in recent years that it’s comforting to be able to turn on the television and watch two hours of stupid humor crafted into an actually watchable film. In the ways that the original Happy Gilmore was a satire about the types of people who play hockey and those that play golf, Happy Gilmore 2 takes on the attention economy and rise of Twitch streaming. Even so, it manages to handle this and other politically charged topics in a way that feels light and makes for an enjoyable watch. It’s a film that allows you to detach from the real world for a little bit. There is so much joy to be found in a mid-budget film that features a cameo from a famous actor or athlete in nearly every scene. It’s a return to the late 90s in the best way possible.

That being said, there is a wealth of surprisingly deep topics in this film. While it’s perfectly possible to mindlessly watch and enjoy, going beneath the surface provides insight into what, exactly, the Happy Madison Production Company was doing with this sequel. From the casting through the climax, Happy Gilmore 2 is the perfect comedy to take you back to a simpler time.

---

Daughter as Caretaker

This is the one topic in the movie I am not sure Sandler and his team did intentionally. It was painful to watch at times and made me desperately want better for Vienna Gilmore (Sunny Sandler), Happy’s daughter. Happy and Virginia (Julie Bowen) had 5 children. The first four were boys and the youngest was a daughter, meaning that Vienna was very young when her mother passed away. Since then, it appears that she has taken on a caretaker role for her family, especially given Happy’s increasing alcoholism.

At the start of the movie, the four boys have all moved out. While they didn’t go to college, they did graduate high school and get jobs of their own. Still, they’re all back in the house for family dinner. Vienna cooked the dinner for them, and mothers them throughout. She’s clearly the most mature one there, a “girl” in a world of stereotypical boys. She follows this by putting her father to bed and making sure he’s doing okay.

Even though she’s an excellent ballerina, she doesn’t know if she can follow her own path because she needs to be there for her father. Even when (spoiler!) she does get to go to Paris for school, all four of the boys follow her there. Her duty as de facto mother never comes to an end.

It is a common reality for many women, particularly the eldest daughter in any given family, to fall into a caretaking role at a young age. Many men are used to having a woman take care of them, whether that be their mother or their wife, and it’s easy for them to slot their daughter into that role. If we look at the 1996 Happy Gilmore, Vienna did take care of Happy and teach him how to exist in the world at large. It’s not surprising that with his wife gone, he needed his daughter to do the same.

I do wish this was explored slightly more, or perhaps that the boys hadn’t gone to Paris with Vienna at the end of the movie. It would have been more interesting to me if even the daughter was a bro-y hockey kid with a loud mouth, but if they were going to make her the polite ballerina I wish she had been given a moment of rebellion. It’s valiant of her to take on the duties of the household as a high schooler, but given that she was the only female main character, it would have been nice to see agency.

Guilty By Reason of Insanity

This is where I’m going to show what a nerd I really am. In Happy Gilmore, Happy’s tennis rival Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald) committed some fairly egregious crimes that culminated in attempted murder and theft of Happy’s golden winner’s jacket. In the sequel, we find out that Shooter chose to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. The insanity defense has long been a figment of popular imagination. People wonder how someone can just be free because they’re mentally ill. What does that even mean? Well, the answer is somewhat more complicated than just being found not guilty. Those who take an insanity plea will most often be incarcerated not in a prison but at a mental institution, where they are held by permission of the government. That means that despite not being a technically guilty person, you can still be incarcerated.

In fact, the reality for those who are Innocent by Virtue of Insanity can often be worse than if they were merely convicted of a crime. While there are laws imposing prison maximums for crimes, institutionalization does not have an end point. In Jones v. United States (1983), the Supreme Court upheld this, stating that the government is allowed to hold people indefinitely in a mental hospital even if they have been held for longer than they would have for committing the crime. The plaintiff in Jones was held involuntarily for years despite the maximum guilty sentence being 1 year. While he requested a civil trial at the end of the maximum guilty sentence‑civil trials are the traditional way of holding someone who has not committed a crime but is a danger to themselves or others‑the Supreme Court and other courts denied that. It’s a gross mishandling of civil liberties and allows a single mental hospital to detain people against their will far after they should be held.

If you’re still with me after that detour, I do promise this relates to the movie at hand. Shooter was placed in a mental hospital for his actions, and his appeals never go well. The board at the hospital prods him, tempting him to have a breakdown again and then subsequently refusing to let him go. However, when Shooter is freed (through the power of movie logic) and comes face-to-face with Happy, it’s clear that this interaction is more therapeutic than anything the hospital could ever have offered him. Being in a mental hospital that does not provide adequate care can cause even more damage, and in it’s own way Happy Gilmore 2 shared a window to that reality.

Alcoholism

As mentioned earlier, Happy Gilmore became an alcoholic after his wife’s death. If anyone was ever justified in their decision to start drinking heavily, it was Happy. Not only did his wife die, but Happy’s slightly off-the-mark high-powered golf ball is the thing that hit her in the head and killed her. Talk about traumatic.

Alcoholism has been used as a plot device or a punchline in countless films before, and I was worried this movie would trend in the same direction. While it certainly did provide humor‑Happy hid alcohol in secret compartments of remotes, golf tees, couch cushions, and salt shakers‑it was far more rooted in reality. Alcoholics really do hide alcohol around the house that they can access without others noticing. Sure, this was played up to the point of absurd, but it wasn’t mocking the idea that someone could be an alcoholic.

While Happy was trying to get sober throughout the movie, he ended up relapsing on a particularly hard day. This, too, felt real. While watching And Just Like That…, the Sex and the City reboot, I was frustrated at how easy it seemed for Miranda to get sober. She went from chugging vodka alone in the kitchen to dating and being fine ordering mocktails at bars the very next day. In reality, it’s rare for someone with severe alcoholism to have an easy time getting and staying sober. Being around alcohol or being in an emotionally heightened situation increases the risk of relapse, and that’s exactly what happened for Happy.

The Verdict

Whether you’re interested in any of the political analysis I did above or you just want to watch Travis Kelce take his shirt off in a scene, this movie will provide you with the perfect viewing experience. It’s referential to the original while still paving new ground, making Happy Gilmore 2 a worthwhile watch for people of all generations.

---

But wait, there’s more! Happy Gilmore 2 had an absolutely star-studded cast. If you’re interested in hearing about who big names were in the movie and whether they have a career in acting, you can donate to support the site and unlock my in-depth breakdown!

(Note: As the platform is currently under upgrade, all bonus content is being delivered manually. Once you purchase, I’ll personally email you the full breakdown within 3–5 days. Thank you so much for your support! It’s how we keep doing what we love)