Cast: Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore, Benny Safdi as Frank Manatee, Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin, Ben Stiller as Hal El, Bad Bunny as Oscar, Haley Joel Osment as Billy Jenkins, Lavell Crawford as Slim Peterson, Sunny Sandler as Vienna Gilmore, Julie Bowen as virginia Gilmore, John Daly as himself, Steve Buscemi as Bad neighbor Pat, Sadie Sandler as Charlotte,Dennis Dugan as Doug Thompson, Jackie Sandler as Monica, Maxwell Friedman as Gordie Gilmore, Philip Schneider as Robbie Gilmore, Ethan Cutkosky as Wayne Gilmore, Conor Sherry as terry Gilmore, Kevin Nealon as potter, Kim Whitley as Bessie, John Farley as Nate, Eric Andre as Stiner, Margaret Qualley as Sally, Post Malone as DJ, Marcello Hernandez as Esteban, Travis Kelsey as the Waiter, nick Swardson as Ben Daggett, Eminem as Donald Jr., Robert Smigel as the Lawyer, Jon Lovitz as Dapper Man, Rob Schneider as tricycle Cowboy, Blake Clark as Beach Man, Oliver Hudson as Harley, and about 20 pro golfers active or retired as themselves.

Written By: Tim Herlihy (Happy Gilmore) and Adam Sandler

Directed By: Kyle Newacheck (Game Over man)

Notable producers: Dennis Dugan, Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler, Sarah Sarandos,

Original Score By: Rupert Gregson-Williams (Wonder Woman, Hacksaw Ridge)

Studio: Netflix

Release Year: 2025

Runtime: 114 minutes

Rated PG-13

Audio Description produced by: Descriptive Video Works

written By: Erin Muroski

Narrated By: Justin Smallbridge

What is it: A sequel to the hit 1996 comedy classic that helped to launch Adam Sandler’s career, about a failed hockey player with a legendary swing who turns to golf to save his grandmother’s home. in the sequel, he’s older, he has kids, and he hits rock bottom after accidentally killing his wife. But, when his daughter has the opportunity to attend a prestigious ballet school, he rallies to bring himself back on the green and kick his alcoholism. but at the same time, an entrepreneur (Safdi) has plans for an extreme version of golf, and while Happy wants nothing to do with it, maybe his old foe Shooter McGavin (McDonald) does?

What Works: My God there are a lot of people in this. I know its been 29 years, and some original cast didn’t return simply because they are no longer alive, but it seems like Sandler made a valiant effort to extend as many offers as possible, while roping in a host of new friends from the last 29 years. Safdi directed Sandler in Uncut gems, so that is no surprise. He now has a family, so his wife and two daughters both appear. and then he’s got everyone from Travis Kelsey to Eminem popping up along the way. but as a fan, I was interested to see how a legacy sequel would work. And, they do have options. They could have made this even stronger or mor emotionally resonant. His daughter could have continued in the family trend of being a golfer, needing to be coached by her father. He runs into his old caddie, who is now a pro golfer. Maybe he needed mentoring. Maybe this film was about Gilmore and McGavin putting their differences aside to save golf. Maybe he can be coached by the son of Chubs. Maybe someone will fight an alligator. Most of that happens in part, or in variations, as Gilmore tries to pick up the shattered pieces of his life.

He turns nearly everything he owns into a flask, so he is always drinking out of some random object. Instead of being a hilarious trainwreck in his 20’s, he’s now a sad 58 year old with responsibilities that needs to get his stuff together. While a bunch of pro golfers likely avoided the first film, they all showed up here. The list is only really missing Tiger Woods, who seems missing only because of the depth of the roster. And the cameos are both for them, and Sandler staples like Nick Swardson and Rob Schneider.

Benny is a fine villain for the film, though more on that in the next section. what I loved most was Christopher McDonald returning as Shooter McGavin. It feels like more than anyone, he was ready for this film. He is such a bright spot, and at 70 years old, really holds his own against Sandler, and has a ton of energy in him. They also don’t squander him on screentime like they do Julie Bowen. He’s clearly in the top 4 for the film in terms of screentime. He might have lost his mind, but he is a golf purist, and always was. once he gets loose, that’s what restores Shooter McGavin. His altruistic love of golf that goes beyond just a jacket.

the first is funnier, tighter, and more quotable. However, considering the usual films Sandler feels comfortable dropping on Netflix, this stands very tall.

What Doesn’t work: For some reason, we flash back a lot to show characters from the original. We do it for his old caddie, who isn’t even played by the same actor anymore. we do it for the heckler, who didn’t return, and now has his son doing the heckling. I think they should have assumed, at this point, 95% of the people who watch this have seen the original, and get the jokes.There are so many other jokes that aren’t explained, so why bother with the flashbacks?

And, while the audio description had a hard time making sense of it, so did the film. what the hell is this MAX league that Frank is starting? What are the rules? The thing always seems like a concept, but is even less thought out than the XFL. We start playing with only a few references to any rules at all, and then it just seems to throw that list out the window.

There’s also a weird subplot where Frank is severing part of the spinal column of his golfers believing tht’s where Happy gets his strength. Benny is fun as Frank, but nearly everything Frank does needed to be explained better. It’s possible a stronger script wouldn’t have had MAX at all, and instead just made Benny the new foil Gilmore has to take down on the course. the Audio Description: Kudos to Erin for navigating this. there are so many cameos, that if could be easy to trip up and name the actor and not the character, while with others, they are playing themselves. And, while I know there are a few more vessels for Sandler’s liquor that didn’t make the cut, enough of them did to make the running gag work. My favorite was the golf ball. Also, some fun little references, like Shooter reading the Shining while in the mental hospital. The weakest part is MAX golf, though the film itself needed to do a better job of describing it. From what is there, it seems like we’re getting everything as is, yet conceptually it still somehow makes very little sense. It’s a weakness in the screenplay for the film, but it ends up flooding downstream as the audio description has to make sense of nonsense. Justin is a nice narrator. I’ve been enjoying him on the Sandman. I’m not sure if comedy is his genre, though he didn’t detract either. I think this movie is funny enough it doesn’t need assistance from an AD narrator with a lighter touch. But, other comedies might.

Why You Might Like it: Fans of Sandler, golf (just for the cameos), and people looking for a Netflix film that isn’t just an unholy abomination will enjoy this. it is not as good as the first, but few sequels are. most just want to capture even a majority of the magic of the first.

Why you Might not Like it: You are a Happy Gilmore purist, and believe no sequel could ever work. You also hate Sandler comedies, or you believe his entire Netflix output has been a wash.

Final Thoughts: the difference between Happy Gilmore 1 and 2 is like the difference between scoring a condor on a golf course, versus a simple Birdie. the first is really impressive, the second more common, but both are still under par.

fresh: Final Grade: 7.5/10