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Happy Gilmore poster

Movies that feel likeHappy Gilmore (1996)

Failed hockey player-turned-golf whiz Happy Gilmore — whose unconventional approach and antics on the green courts the ire of rival Shooter McGavin — is determined to win a PGA tournament so he can save his granny's house with the prize money. Meanwhile, an attractive tour publicist tries to soften Happy's image.

If you loved Happy Gilmore, the closest films we have are The Dinner Game (1998), Best in Show (2000) and The Green Butchers (2003). All three share Happy Gilmore's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Adrift in Tokyo (2007).

🍅 66% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Dennis Duganwittyplayful
8 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Paramount Plus Premium · MUBI

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If Happy Gilmore hit the spot, these will too

The Dinner Game poster
The Dinner Game
1998 · dir. Francis Veber
🍅 73%★ 7.6comedy

Witty where it counts, playful underneath

For Pierre Brochant and his friends, Wednesday is “Idiots' Day”. The idea is simple: each person has to bring along an idiot. The one who brings the most spectacular idiot wins the prize. Tonight, Brochant is ecstatic. He has found a gem. The ultimate idiot, “A world champion idiot!”. What Brochant doesn’t know is that Pignon is a real jinx, a past master in the art of bringing on catastrophes...

Best in Show poster
Best in Show
2000 · dir. Christopher Guest
🍅 93%★ 7.5comedyParamount+

Both lean on wit more than on comedy

The difference: Reviewed even better

The tension is palpable, the excitement is mounting and the heady scent of competition is in the air as hundreds of eager contestants from across America prepare to take part in what is undoubtedly one of the greatest events of their lives -- the Mayflower Dog Show. The canine contestants and their owners are as wondrously diverse as the great country that has bred them.

The Green Butchers poster
The Green Butchers
2003 · dir. Anders Thomas Jensen
🍅 63%★ 7.2comedy

Playful comedy in both cases

Svend and Bjarne work for a butcher in a small Danish town. Fed up with their boss' arrogance, they decide to start their own butcher shop. After dismal beginnings, an unfortunate accident happens which coincides with a large order of meat. One hasty decision leads to another and soon the business thrives. In the meantime, Bjarne has to deal with his twin brother who has been in coma for years following a gruesome car accident.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation poster
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
1989 · dir. Jeremiah S. Chechik
🍅 72%★ 7.5comedy

Comedy with a pulse of wit, in both cases

It's Christmastime, and the Griswolds are preparing for a family seasonal celebration. But things never run smoothly for Clark, his wife Ellen, and their two kids. Clark's continual bad luck is worsened by his obnoxious family guests, but he manages to keep going, knowing that his Christmas bonus is due soon.

Adrift in Tokyo poster
Adrift in Tokyo
2007 · dir. Satoshi Miki
★ 7.2comedy

Both run playful where it counts

A thug offers to pay a law student's gambling debt if the student will accompany him on a trip across Tokyo.

The Boss of It All poster
The Boss of It All
2006 · dir. Lars von Trier
🍅 74%★ 6.6comedy

Comedy in the same key

The owner of an IT firm wants to sell his business for profit; however, when he started his firm, he invented a nonexistent president to hide behind when unpopular steps needed to be taken. When potential purchasers insist on negotiating with 'The Boss' face to face, the owner hires a failed actor to play the part.

Big Daddy poster
Big Daddy
1999 · dir. Dennis Dugan
🍅 39%★ 6.5comedy · dramaNetflixStarz

Dennis Dugan directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Leans harder into drama than Happy Gilmore does

A lazy law school grad adopts a kid to impress his girlfriend, but everything doesn't go as planned. Now he's forced to grow up while navigating the challenges of fatherhood.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights poster
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
1993 · dir. Mel Brooks
🍅 42%★ 6.7comedy

Both keep coming back to the same thing: taxes

Robin Hood comes home after fighting in the Crusades to learn that the noble King Richard is in exile and that the despotic King John now rules England, with the help of the Sheriff of Rottingham. Robin Hood assembles a band of fellow patriots to do battle with King John and the Sheriff.

Four Rooms poster
Four Rooms
1995 · dir. Robert Rodriguez
🍅 13%★ 6.7comedy

Cut from the same comedy cloth

It's Ted the Bellhop's first night on the job...and the hotel's very unusual guests are about to place him in some outrageous predicaments. It seems that this evening's room service is serving up one unbelievable happening after another.

You Don't Mess with the Zohan poster
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
2008 · dir. Dennis Dugan
🍅 37%★ 5.6comedy · action

Both are Dennis Dugan's work, and they rhyme

The difference: Sits closer to action than Happy Gilmore does

An Israeli counterterrorism soldier with a secretly fabulous ambition to become a Manhattan hairstylist. Zohan's desire runs so deep that he'll do anything -- including faking his own death and going head-to-head with an Arab cab driver -- to make his dreams come true.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry poster
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
2007 · dir. Dennis Dugan
🍅 15%★ 5.9comedy · romanceStarz

The comedy is handled with the same confidence

Firefighters Chuck Ford and Larry Valentine are guy's guys, loyal to the core—which is why when widower Larry asks Chuck to pose as his lover so that he can get domestic partner benefits for his kids, his buddy agrees. However, things get dicey when a bureaucrat comes calling, and the boys are forced to present a picture of domestic bliss.

Kindergarten Cop poster
Kindergarten Cop
1990 · dir. Ivan Reitman
🍅 54%★ 6.3comedy

Both know what they want from comedy

Hard-edged cop John Kimble gets more than he bargained for when he goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to get the goods on a brutal drug lord while at the same time protecting the man's young son. Pitted against a class of boisterous moppets whose antics try his patience and test his mettle, Kimble may have met his match … in more ways than one.

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The best-reviewed films that share Happy Gilmore’s defining feeling.