The Waterboy Review
by Michael Dequina (michael_jordan AT geocities DOT com)November 7th, 1998
_The_Waterboy_ (PG-13) ** (out of ****)
The premise is as absurd as one would expect from an Adam Sandler vehicle: Bobby Boucher (Sandler), a softspoken 31-year-old college football waterboy, becomes a gridiron star himself as a lean, mean tackling machine. However, what makes this film more tolerable than most of Sandler's previous work is that his character isn't such a prick. Bobby is nice, if more than a little naive, guy who, above all else, loves his domineering mother (Kathy Bates, who should do more comedy), with whom he still lives in a backwoods cabin.
That said, _The_Waterboy_ is the definition of an "average" film--a hit-and-miss affair that in neither bad nor especially good. For every chuckle-worthy gag (Bobby's mother's taste for, to put it lightly, exotic cuisine), there's another that never gets off the ground (a perpetually drunk cheerleading squad). The familiar sports movie formula (a big, climactic game) gets a workout here, but it does have some charm in this context. And, of course, there's Sandler's mugging, which can be either amusing or flat-out annoying. In short, _The_Waterboy_ exactly what the trailers and TV commercials advertise. Based on those, you should know whether or not this film's your cup of tea (or, rather, H2O).
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Michael Dequina
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