The Waterboy Review
by Susan Granger (Ssg722 AT aol DOT com)November 8th, 1998
Susan Granger's review of 'THE WATERBOY" (Touchstone Pictures) Adam Sandler summarized this and his whole string of lightweight movies ("The Wedding Singer," "Billy Madison," "Happy Gilmore") when he said, "We're just having fun, and I hope everyone has fun right along with us." And there's something funny and endearing about Adam Sandler, even if his moronic movies are simply variations on each other and he always plays the nerdy, hapless hero. This time, he's a seemingly dim-witted, socially inept 31 year-old from the swamps of Louisiana who works as a lowly water boy, although he loves dispensing H2O to dehydrated athletes and truly believes that it's life's greatest calling. His over-protective mother, Kathy Bates, has home-schooled him in the bayou, so his only contact with his peers is his job, where the jocks rib him relentlessly and his coach won't let him fight back. Then, one day, he gets a new coach, Henry Winkler, who consults "The Idiot's Guide to Coaching." After years of holding in his fury, Sandler's finally allowed to release his pent-up Cajun rage, and he's suddenly transformed into the most devastating tackle on the team. Problem is: he has to go to college at the same time - behind his mother's back. And Kathy Bates is hilarious, cookin' snakes 'n' biscuits 'n' 'gators, shootin' off her mouth, and muggin' in front of the TV cameras at a game. Fairuza Balk is amusing, too, as his wacko, knife-wielding, jailbird girl-friend. Directed by Frank Coraci, written by Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler, the comedy is primarily visual, and the zaniest bits are often at the edge of the main action - like the depressed, unkempt, bourbon-drinking cheerleaders on the loser football team. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "The Waterboy" is a silly, fumbling 3, delivering a bucketful of laughs.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
