All Of The Happy Madison Movies (Minus Adam Sandler), Ranked: From ‘Paul Blart’ To ‘The Out-Laws’

Never has the name of a production company better signified its output than Happy Madison. A portmanteau of founder Adam Sandler’s early box office successes, Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, its films have pretty much stuck to their comedic template ever since its 1999 debut: shouty manchild hiding heart of gold, love interests that are blatantly punching well below their weight, broad strokes comedy often involving wacky geriatrics, slightly problematic stereotypes and a dazed Steve Buscemi etc.

But not all its movies have featured Sandler himself. In fact, there are no fewer than 22 Happy Madison titles which have handed leading man duties elsewhere. Of course, as you’d expect when you bank on David Spade, or even more inexplicably, Rob Schneider, the quality levels significantly drop. Even Jack and Jill starts to resemble Blazing Saddles when you compare it to some of the Sandler-less offerings. But while not a single one has a Rotten Tomatoes rating above 44 percent, plenty are still perfectly watchable in that “Saturday night switch your brain off” kinda way.

Not including the latest, the Adam Devine bank heist comedy The Out-Laws, which has only just hit Netflix, here’s a ranking from worst to best (or perhaps worst to most adequate). 

1. ‘Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star’ (2011)

   DIRECTOR: Tom Brady

   STARS: Nick Swardson, Christina Ricci, Don Johnson

   RATING: R

   Fine in small doses – see his roller-skating gigolo in Reno 911! – but never a leading man, Nick Swardson proved that there are limits to how much lowest common denominator humor the Happy Madison stable can get away with. The story of a grocery store worker stuck in arrested development (what else?) who, despite the double combo of a small penis and buck teeth, tries to launch a career as a porn star, Bucky Larson picked up six Razzie nominations and remains the company’s lowest-grossing theatrical release to date. Swardson later blamed a snobby press for its disastrous commercial performance, seemingly oblivious to its talent-wasting (poor Ricci has to pretend to be in love with the dweeb), dated premise and gags which essentially amount to “aren’t boobs funny?”

   WHERE TO STREAM BUCKY LARSON

2. ‘The Master of Disguise’ (2002)

   DIRECTOR: Perry Andelin Blake

   STARS: Dana Carvey, Brent Spiner, Jennifer Esposito

   RATING: PG

   In 2002, Mike Myers was conquering the box office while rubbing shoulders with Beyoncé. His Wayne’s World co-star, on the other hand, was essentially hammering the final nail in his film career’s coffin. Indeed, Dana Carvey didn’t appear on the big screen for another nine years following The Master of Disguise, a desperately unfunny ‘comedy’ which even at a paltry 80 minutes firmly outstayed its welcome. The SNL graduate plays Pistachio Disguisey, a man who, in the wake of his parents’ kidnapping, must summon up the previously untapped camouflage skills to help save them. The fact that a running gag involves Brent Spiner’s overlord farting every time he laughs tells you that hilarity does not ensue. 

   WHERE TO STREAM THE MASTER OF DISGUISE

4. ‘Strange Wilderness’ (2008)

   DIRECTOR: Fred Wolf

   STARS: Steve Zahn, Allen Covert, Jonah Hill

   RATING: PG-13

   Strange Wilderness actually has a half-decent concept: dim-witted TV personality attempts to save his late father’s long-running nature show by hopping over to Ecuador for a Bigfoot special. Unfortunately, Steve Zahn’s host recruits possibly the most obnoxious, crude and downright hateful bunch of characters ever assembled in a Happy Madison film to help execute it. Jeff Garlin, Robert Patrick and Harry Hamlin are just a few of the experienced names who look visibly embarrassed to be in a stoner comedy which believes that a man vomiting into a shark’s mouth is the height of hilarity. Strange Wilderness took three years to be released but should have been left on the shelf to rot.

   WHERE TO STREAM STRANGE WILDERNESS

5. ‘Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser’ (2015)

   DIRECTOR: Fred Wolf

   STARS: David Spade, Brittany Daniel, Patrick Warburton

   RATING: R

   Beating The Ridiculous Six to the punch by five months, Joe Dirt 2 was Happy Madison’s first streaming venture: in fact, it remained the now-defunct Crackle’s most-watched original film, beating such illustrious company as Jesse Metcalfe zombie flick Dead Rising: Watchtower and Charlie Sheen caper Mad Families. However, the fact that Kid Rock and UFC president Dana White both offered to finance the belated sequel should give you an indication of its quality. Yes, casual homophobia, hackneyed attempts at meta humor and a lengthy sequence dedicated to its redneck antihero’s testicles are all thrown in a surreal and nonsensical time-travel melting pot which suggests Spade and co. simply settled on the first draft.

   WHERE TO STREAM JOE DIRT 2

6. ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2’ (2015)

   DIRECTOR: Andy Fickman

   STARS: Kevin James, Raini Rodriguez, Neal McDonough

   RATING: PG

   Another excuse for the Happy Madison team to go on vacation under the pretense of making a film (see Blended, Just Go With It, Murder Mystery), Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is also another excuse for Kevin James to display his love of pratfalls. Here, he throws his surprisingly limber frame around a Las Vegas hotel staging a security officers convention coinciding with the world’s most ill-timed art heist. Blart is not only more bumbling six years on, getting into groanworthy skirmishes with everything from agitated peacocks to the Cirque du Soleil. He’s also more unlikable, constantly belittling the hotel manager who, inevitably, falls head over heels for him and mollycoddling the teenage daughter in a way best described as toxic. In fact, the whole tone is off: see the opening scene in which his mother getting fatally run over by a milk truck is played entirely for laughs.  

   WHERE TO STREAM PAUL BLART: MALL COP 2

7. ‘The Benchwarmers’ (2006)

   DIRECTOR: Dennis Dugan

   STARS: Rob Schneider, David Spade, Jon Heder

   RATING: PG-13

   You get two regular Sandler stand-ins for the price of one of in The Benchwarmers, the lamest of Happy Madison’s sports movies. Schneider and Spade are also joined by Jon Heder in his first post-Napoleon Dynamite starring role, essentially playing the same character without the ginger Afro and Jamiroquai dance moves. This surprise 2006 box office hit has its heart in the right place, with the nerdy trio teaching a bunch of younger nerds the true spirit of baseball. But the jokes appear to have been written by a team of Little Leaguers – you only have to wait two minutes for one about boogers – and there’s a “this-will-do” vibe essentially summarized by its last line: “This was a total waste of time, wasn’t it?”

   WHERE TO STREAM The benchwarmers

8. ‘Grandma’s Boy’ (2006)

   DIRECTOR: Nicholaus Goossen

   STARS: Allen Covert, Linda Cardellini, Peter Dante

   RATING: R

   Nicholaus Goossen is responsible for Happy Madison’s biggest outlier (more on that later). But apart from the constant references to pot, his first effort was very much business as usual. Upgrading regular Sandler sidekick Allen Covert to center stage, Grandma’s Boy focuses on a video game tester who, presciently getting ahead of the boomerang generation, is forced to move back in with family, namely Doris Roberts’ Antiques Roadshow addict and her two equally sitcommy BFFs. Covert’s Alex also inevitably gets a girl way out of his league, the deserves-better Linda Cardellini, while also battling a cartoonish arch-nemesis in the way of Joel Moore’s self-proclaimed genius. Although its leading man doesn’t disgrace himself, Grandma’s Boy makes you realize just how much Happy Madison relies on Sandler’s charisma.

   WHERE TO STREAM GRANDMA’s BOY

9. ‘Home Team’ (2022)

   DIRECTOR: Charles and Daniel Kinnane

   STARS: Kevin James, Taylor Lautner, Rob Schneider

   RATING: PG

   Had it presented itself as a pure work of fiction, then Home Team could have been deemed a perfectly serviceable stab at making a The Bad News Bears for the streaming generation. But there’s something inherently murky about its determination to reposition a disgraced real-life NFL figure as a small-town hero. This Netflix original sees James portray Sean Payton, the New Orleans Saints head coach who, after receiving a one-year-ban for his involvement in the Bountygate scandal, spends his sudden downtime transforming his estranged son’s prep school team from eternal losers to near-champions. Payton, who makes a brief cameo toward the feel-good finale, couldn’t have paid for a better image rehabilitation.

   WHERE TO STREAM HOME TEAM

10. ‘Zookeeper’ (2011)

    DIRECTOR: Frank Coraci

    STARS: Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb

    RATING: PG

    Technically, Zookeeper isn’t a Sandler-less film. Alongside the unlikely teaming of Cher, Sylvester Stallone and the late Don Rickles in his final role, he voices one of the many animals – a tufted capuchin named Donald – that Kevin James’ hapless zoo caretaker relies on for romantic advice. Yes, this is one of Happy Madison’s rare fun-for-all-the-family outings. But while under-fives will no doubt enjoy the poo-throwing jokes and Western lowland gorilla busting some moves to Flo Rida, everyone else will be left groaning at all the male wish fulfillment: both Leslie Bibb and Rosario Dawson’s characters believe James’ schlub is the ultimate catch.   

    WHERE TO STREAM zookeeper

11. ‘Joe Dirt’ (2001)

    DIRECTOR: Dennie Gordon

    STARS: David Spade, Dennis Miller, Brittany Daniel

    RATING: PG-13

    What if the real treasure was the friends we made along the way? That’s essentially the cliché succumbed to by this “white-trash” answer to Forrest Gump. In his first solo starring role, Spade plays Joe Dirt, a mulleted radio station janitor who, for some reason, is allowed to recount his whole life story on-air after being accosted by the local shock jock. By the end, you’re left sympathizing with the parents who abandoned him aged eight at the Grand Canyon. Released at the height of the gross-out comedy boom, Dennie Gordon’s directorial debut certainly doesn’t skimp on sight gags designed to make you gag – its biggest set-piece involves Dirt being showered with human waste. Still, the presence of Christopher Walken – who plays an ever-changing ex-mobster in witness protection – lends it the occasional touch of class.

    WHERE TO STREAM JOE DIRT

12. ‘Deuce Bigalow 2: European Gigolo’ (2005)

    DIRECTOR: Mike Bigelow

    STARS: Rob Schneider, Eddie Griffin, Til Schweiger

    RATING: R

    Deuce Bigalow 2: European Gigolo is perhaps most notable for its critical response than any of its unashamedly bad taste jokes. Not only did it finally land Schneider a Worst Actor Razzie, it also sparked a beef between its leading man and Roger Ebert which inspired the name of the celebrated reviewer’s next book, Your Movie Sucks. Interestingly, the sequel that nobody really asked for is far from Happy Madison’s nadir. Sure, there’s still plenty of eye-rolling gay panic and a tendency to mine the disabled for laughs – witness the Chernobyl victim with a penis for a nose. But by the time its cross-country murder mystery is wrapped up at what else but the 473^rd Annual Man Whore Awards, it’s also shown plenty of guilty pleasure charm.

    WHERE TO STREAM DEUCE BIGALOW 2

13. ‘Father of the Year’ (2018)

    DIRECTOR: Tyler Spindel

    STARS: David Spade, Nat Faxon, Joey Bragg

    RATING: TV-14

    Surely their only Sandler-less vehicle to star an Academy Award-winning scriptwriter – The Descendants scribe Nat Faxon – this Netflix original further proved that Happy Madison and streaming was a natural fit. Essentially a “my dad’s bigger than your dad” quarrel stretched to feature length, Father of the Year would have left you feeling short-changed had it been released on the big screen. On the small screen, however, the low-stakes, lowbrow battle between Faxon’s mild-mannered nipple cream tester and Spade’s Joe Dirt-esque bum is a perfectly passable way to pass 94 minutes. Particularly for the fact it relegates the annoying duo to supporting players, instead focusing more on the surprisingly relatable coming-of-age experiences of their two returning sons.

    WHERE TO STREAM father of the year

14. ‘The Animal’ (2001)

    DIRECTOR: Luke Greenfield

    STARS: Rob Schneider, Colleen Haskell, John C. McGinley

    RATING: R

    It’s hard to take The Animal seriously, if it was ever possible to do so, after watching South Park’s merciless takedown (“Rob Schneider is a wall street executive, with everything going for him. Only problem is, he’s about to become… a carrot!”). Here, Happy Madison’s number one punching bag plays a police evidence clerk who, after suffering a near-fatal car crash, is patched together by a mad scientist. Oblivious to his “trans-species-ectomy,” Schneider’s Marvin suddenly discovers he can outpace horses, swim faster than seals and sniff out heroin stashed in drug-smugglers’ rectums. It’s all completely ludicrous, of course, but refreshingly, the humor is more of the goofy than the gross. In fact, it’s the only Schneider vehicle which could be described as sweet.

    WHERE TO STREAM THE ANIMAL

15. ‘The Shortcut’ (2009)

    DIRECTOR: Nicholaus Goossen

    STARS: Andrew Seeley, Shannon Woodward, Dave Franco

    RATING: PG-13

    Who knew there was briefly a Happy Madison offshoot specializing in horror films? The Shortcut, the only venture from Scary Madison (see what they did there?), barely made a ripple when it hit VOD in 2009. Which is a shame as it’s an efficiently creepy tale which serves as a gateway between the kid-friendly Goosebumps and more bloodthirsty teen slashers. Co-written by Sandler’s brother Scott, The Shortcut sees a gang of high schoolers, including a pre-fame Dave Franco, investigate a near-mythical part of town they suspect is the home of a serial dog killer. Of course, as they soon learn to their cost, the truth turns out to be even darker. There’s little you haven’t seen before but it’s a solid genre picture which proved the Madison brand could stray from the norm.  

    WHERE TO STREAM THE SHORTCUT

16. ‘The Wrong Missy’ (2020)

    DIRECTOR: Tyler Spindel

    STARS: David Spade, Lauren Lapkus, Geoff Pierson

    RATING: TV-MA

    A regular scene-stealer in the likes of Crashing, The Big Bang Theory and Orange Is the New Black, Lauren Lapkus grabbed the chance to take center stage and then some in Happy Madison’s best Sandler-less Netflix original. The comedian delivers a firebrand performance as the titular date-from-hell who’s accidentally invited to a Hawaiian work retreat by David Spade’s reserved businessman. In real life, Missy is the type of obnoxious party animal you couldn’t possibly bear to spend more than five minutes in the company of. But considering that ‘phoned-in’ appears to be the studio’s default style, it’s refreshing to see an actor commit so fully.

    WHERE TO STREAM THE WRONG MISSY

17. ‘The Hot Chick’ (2002)

    DIRECTOR: Tom Brady

    STARS: Rob Schneider, Rachel McAdams, Anna Faris

    RATING: PG-13

    Rachel McAdams might now want to forget that her first notable film role was in a broad body-swap comedy with Rob Schneider. But The Hot Chick is, in fact, nothing to be too ashamed of. Well, apart from some casual racism and Happy Madison’s most blatant case of gay panic (no mean feat). The future Oscar nominee plays Jessica, a mean girl cheerleader who, thanks to a magical pair of ancient earrings, wakes up as a stubbly, paunchy, middle-aged career criminal. Allowing Schneider to show a bit of range, this Freaky Friday-esque scenario is, of course, exploited in a juvenile fashion. But in among all the peeing and period gags, there are moments when it handles the thorny issue of gender in a surprisingly subversive, and even heartwarming, way. 

    WHERE TO STREAM the hot chick

18. ‘Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo’ (1999)

    DIRECTOR: Mike Mitchell

    STARS: Rob Schneider, William Forsythe, Eddie Griffin

    RATING: R

    It’s hard to fathom why Happy Madison, with one of the world’s most bankable comedians at their disposal, decided to launch themselves as a major player not with founder Sandler but a perennial sidekick who’d never fronted a movie before. To be fair, Rob Schneider is actually *whisper it* relatively charming as the eponymous aquarium cleaner who pivots into the world of male prostitution to pay off a $6,000 debt, crossing the paths of everyone from narcoleptic Francophiles to super-sized Norwegians along the way. And belonging to that club of late ‘90s gross-out movies with a heart, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo is indeed superior to the company’s first Sandler vehicle, Little Nicky.

    WHERE TO STREAM DEUCE BIGALOW

19. ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop’ (2009)

    DIRECTOR: Steve Carr

    STARS: Kevin James, Jayma Mays, Bobby Cannavale

    RATING: PG-13

    Paul Blart: Mall Cop remains Happy Madison’s highest-grossing Sandler-less offering, also earning more than Mr. Deeds, Blended and Jack and Jill with takings of $183.3 million. Essentially Die Hard set in a New Jersey shopping mall, it’s not too hard to see why. Unlike in its cash-grab sequel, the Segway-riding, hypoglycemia-suffering Blart is someone worth rooting for, and the lack of curse words and gross-out gags meant that everyone in the family could watch its predictable, if still gently amusing, slapstick. James is no Bruce Willis, obviously, yet he still pulls off the whole everyman hero schtick, even if his Black Friday foes are some of the most inept thieves ever depicted on screen. 

    WHERE TO STREAM paul blart: mall cop

20. ‘Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star’ (2003)

    DIRECTOR: Sam Weisman

    STARS: David Spade, Mary McCormack, Jon Lovitz

    RATING: PG-13

    Several years before Sandler pondered on the fickle nature of fame in Happy People, Spade tackled a similar subject, albeit in much broader strokes. Dickie Roberts boasts one of Happy Madison’s best premises: former child star – renowned for his near-the-knuckle ‘70s sitcom catchphrase “It’s nucking futs” – adopts family to experience normal childhood that will help him win his career-reviving role. And while the film can’t resist throwing in some faux-sentimental life lessons, it’s a consistently funny trip down nostalgia lane. Watch out for the inspired “We Are the World” finale in which a who’s who of real-life Dickie Roberts sing about their daily struggles (“Don’t ever say, ‘Didn’t you used to be…’ Or I’ll put your head through a vintage TV”).

    WHERE TO STREAM dickie roberts: Former child star

21. ‘Here Comes the Boom’ (2012)

    DIRECTOR: Frank Coraci

    STARS: Kevin James, Salma Hayek, Henry Winkler

    RATING: PG-13

    Brazenly borrowing Joel Edgerton’s narrative from the previous year’s Warrior, Here Comes the Boom stars Kevin James as a biology teacher who decides to save his high school’s at-risk music program by entering the lucrative MMA circuit. Of course, this being a Happy Madison film and all, the out-of-shape do-gooder doesn’t get pummeled to within an inch of his life but instead battles his way to a $50,000 prize sum. Requiring just as much suspension of disbelief is the fact he’s supported every step of the way by a school nurse played by Salma Hayek. Here Comes the Boom may tick off every sports movie cliché in the book but despite a supporting turn from the ultimate knucklehead Joe Rogan, it’s an endearing watch which, rarely for a Happy Madison production, doesn’t try to clobber you over the head.

    where to stream here comes the boom!

22. ‘The House Bunny’ (2008)

    DIRECTOR: Fred Wolf

    STARS: Anna Faris, Emma Stone, Colin Hanks

    RATING: PG-13

    So, Happy Madison’s finest Sandler-free offering is one lacking any usual players, and one that up until the forthcoming You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah was its only female-driven effort, too. The House Bunny isn’t exactly a classic, admittedly. There’s some questionable Grease-esque “change-who-you-are-for-a-boy” messaging and the less said about its glorification of Hugh Hefner the better. But as with much of Sandler’s oeuvre, it’s an example of how a talented cast can elevate so-so material. Faris, who seriously should have found a better agent, is particularly mesmerizing as a real-life Barbie figure thrown out of the Playboy mansion for the crime of turning 27, only to find her true tribe at a nerdy sorority house. Stone, showcasing the charm that would later bank her an Oscar, and Hanks also shine in a flawed but always-entertaining alternative to the campus comedies typically dominated by boorish fratbros.

    WHERE TO STREAM THE HOUSE BUNNY

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Jon O’Brien (@jonobrien81) is a freelance entertainment and sports writer from the North West of England. His work has appeared in the likes of Billboard, Vulture, Grammy Awards, New Scientist, Paste, i-D and The Guardian.