February 15 - 22, 1 9 9 6

HAPPY GILMORE

After the umpteenth bit of immature, sadistic humor in Happy Gilmore -- say the air conditioner crushing the old lady -- you'll either leave the theater or have to laugh. Adam Sandler can be funny because his tastelessness is so innocent you know there's no malice behind it. He can be painfully boring when all he does is mug for the camera and whine. Although there are plenty of whines here, Dennis Dugan's film is fast-paced and clever enough to keep it in a league above the work being done by Sandler's fellow Saturday Night Livers, Chris Farley and David Spade.

Sandler plays a wanna-be hockey player who discovers he can hit a golf ball further than anyone else. Despite his distaste for the gentleman's game, he joins the pro tour to earn enough money to save his grandmother's house from being seized by the IRS. Along the way, he learns to putt from a wooden-handed Carl Weathers, annoys Christopher McDonald (who does a good turn as the obnoxious bad, rich guy), and terrorizes the game of golf in a way that would make Rodney Dangerfield proud. It also doesn't hurt that Sandler sports a Boston Bruins jersey for most of the movie. At the Copley Place, the Fresh Pond, and the Circle and in the suburbs.

-- Mark Bazer