The Waterboy (1998) starring Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Fairuza Balk, Henry Winkler, Jerry Reed directed by Frank Coraci Movie Review

The Waterboy (1998)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Adam Sandler as Bobby Boucher Jr. in The Waterboy (1998)

Foosball is the Devil

"The Waterboy" is another of Adam Sandler's earlier moves which prove the fact that for a period at the end of the 90s he was funny. Okay so Sandler is still funny but his routine of playing a moronic character that screams and shouts but is a good guy had not yet grown tired. It also helps that "The Waterboy" not only has the comedy generated from a story but also features a variety of well known faces such as Henry Winkler, Kathy Bates and Fairuza Balk.

Bobby Boucher (Adam Sandler - The Wedding Singer) knows everything there is to know about water, he takes pride in his job as a waterboy for a college football team even though he is often mocked and humiliated. But when Coach Red Beaulieu (Jerry Reed) fires him Bobby has to find another job and does so working as waterboy for Coach Klein (Henry Winkler) and the Mud Dogs, a football team on a long losing streak. When one day Bobby loses his rag and attacks a player Coach Klein thinks he could be the answer to their prayers except Mama Boucher (Kathy Bates - Titanic) doesn't want him playing football as she thinks football is the devil, in fact she thinks everything is the devil including Vicki Vallencourt (Fairuza Balk) who is fond of her Bobby.

Kathy Bates as Mama Boucher in The Waterboy (1998)

So "The Waterboy" is basically a sporting cliche with a couple of underdogs, the nerdish Bobby Boucher and the Mud Dogs football team. And as such this simple movie follows the obvious path that both come good in the end. What is quite surprising and signifies how popular Adam Sandler was that "The Waterboy" was the highest grossing football movie for over a decade which to be honest is quite staggering.

But whilst "The Waterboy" is technically a football movie it is first and foremost a comedy which as already mentioned has Sandler using a routine which eventually became boring. So we have Bobby Boucher the nerdish waterboy who is picked on by everyone and dominated by his mother, typically Bobby is a good guy but just as typically every now and then he has violent outbursts. Now these are funny because these violent outbursts happen on the field and are the fuel which causes Bobby to tackle other players but it does become repetitive.

But then "The Waterboy" whilst a typical Adam Sandler comedy is aided by a variety of fun characters and not just played by Sandler's usual entourage of Peter Dante, Allen Covert and Rob Schneider. We have Henry Winkler as Coach Klein who is away with the fairies talking to invisible people whilst delivering some strange philosophies as well as a Roy Orbison tattoo on his butt. But there is also Kathy Bates as Bobby's Bayou mama Helen who cooks snake, barbecues alligator and thinks everything is the devil. It is daft but because Bates delivers such an extreme character that it makes you laugh, it's the same with Winkler and also Balk who is amusing as Vicki Vallencourt.

What this all boils down to is that "The Waterboy" is a very typical early Adam Sandler movie which sees him playing a familiar moronic good guy who shouts a little. But where as some of Sandler's earlier movies now just seem stupid "The Waterboy" is still good fun thanks to the entertaining supporting cast.


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