waterboy

Before you send your pet bear after me because I gave “The Waterboy” a lower grade than many
would expect, let me begin by saying I think this movie is very funny and has definitely earned its
place in Adam Sandler’s pantheon of film comedies. The problem with the movie is the diminishing
returns upon repeat viewings.

Sandler plays Bobby Boucher, the village idiot with a penchant for great water. He gets kicked off
the one football team he’s the waterboy for, so he goes to the rival team to fill their H2O needs.
Henry Winkler, the Fonzie himself, is the insecure coach of the underdog team and discovers rather
quickly that Bobby has some serious anger management issues that would work out very well for his
football team. Bobby finds himself playing football, much to the dislike of his doting and controlling
mother, played to the hilt by Kathy Bates.

Fairuza Balk, who we all remember as Dorothy from “Return to Oz,” shows up as the controversial
love interest for Bobby, who is now torn between the wishes of his rather selfish mother and his love
of the game. Did I mention he’s the village idiot?

“The Waterboy” is a watered down third installment in the Sandler trilogy that began with “Billy
Madison” and continued with the excellent “Happy Gilmore.” Here, the Bobby Boucher character is a
combination of Billy Madison’s idiocy and Happy Gilmore’s anger problems. It works, but only
because we as the audience are endeared to Sandler. The formula is admittedly a little tired.

The problems arise with a lot of the abstract craziness that comes with Bobby and his bayou
mother. Bates overplays her character and the devices around her are a little surreal, such as her
unrealistic “cuisines” and the horse/mule thing that is allowed to live in their house with them. Yeah,
it’s a little strange and doesn’t play the same way the alligator did in “Happy Gilmore.”

What does shine in the film is the football stuff. I confess I’ll never tire of watching Sandler scream
and punch somebody or lay them out in the grass. I also liked the device of Winkler’s insecurity and
his deliberate taunting of Bobby to get him mad on the field.

“Hey Bobby. Water sucks. Gatorade’s better.”

Sure it’s zany and all, but it’s good for a laugh. “Waterboy” just doesn’t have the sheer number of
hilarious moments that “Happy Gilmore” does in its scenes. Also, since the Happy Gilmore character
doesn’t have the idiot voice going, it’s a more palatable repeat viewing. “Waterboy” doesn’t crash
exactly, but it doesn’t skyrocket either.