DMR - Deweys Movie Reviews - Podcast · DMR

Episode 121 - Happy Gilmore 2.....A Hole In One or Putting From the Rough???

August 12, 2025·28 min·5 clips

Dewey opens by welcoming listeners back to DMR and posing the big question around Happy Gilmore 2. He reminds everyone that Happy Gilmore first hit in 1996, that the original sits at 85% from audiences and 63% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and that the sequel has arrived in 2025 as a Netflix exclusive rather than a cinema release. That long gap matters to him. He keeps circling back to the idea that the original was lightning in a bottle and belonged to Sandler's prime, which makes any late sequel feel like it is walking into a trap before the opening shot even lands. The trailer gets plenty of attention. Dewey runs through the bits he notices, including the cost of Vienna's ballet school, Happy being pulled back into the game, and the familiar broad-comedy energy the sequel is clearly leaning on. He also pauses for the jokes. There is a lot of reacting to the trailer lines, the golf slapstick, the caddy business, and the return of the silly, abrasive Happy persona that made the first film work. Then the critic quotes start rolling in. He reads out a mix of positive and negative Rotten Tomatoes pull-quotes, from praise that says it is nice to see Sandler make a funny movie again to harsher takes calling it a tired rerun with too many famous faces and not enough soul. The split is obvious. Some of the blurbs frame it as an entertaining evening for fans of Sandler's physical comedy, while the harsher ones go after the callbacks, cameos, and the sense that the movie exists mainly to remind people of the original. Dewey doesn't really buy the comeback. He says the film feels too late to capture the same audience reaction that the first one did, and he keeps comparing it to sequels like Zoolander 2 and Dumb and Dumber 2, where the delay itself becomes part of the problem. He still says to watch it. Even so, he tells listeners to make up their own minds, which keeps the review open enough for viewers who want to see Happy back on screen before they decide whether the jokes hold. The final read is pretty blunt. For him, the movie does not stick the landing, and he doubts many people will be talking about it a month from now. That is the thesis. The whole segment stays loose, reactive, and chatty, with the host moving from trailer beats to critic quotes to a verdict that is more shrug than cheer, and that makes it feel like a genuine couch-side verdict rather than a polished studio review.

As heard by us

A blunt, nostalgic check on whether Happy Gilmore 2 lands or just keeps hacking away.

Dewey's Movie Reviews treats Happy Gilmore 2 as a legacy-sequel test: after nearly 29 years, can Sandler's golf idiot still land, or has the joke gone on too long?

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

A blunt verdict on whether Happy Gilmore 2 still swings 29 years later.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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