"The Waterboy"
Starring Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates and Henry Winkler Frank Coraci - Director

By Greg Ford
Ithacan Staff

2 out of 4 Stars

Since leaving "Saturday Night Live" for a movie career, Adam Sandler has found a niche for himself in comedic roles that appeal to my generation. From last year's "The Wedding Singer" to "Happy Gilmore," Sandler has achieved moderate success. "The Waterboy" follows the formula of these earlier films, with jokes and situations directed toward the late teens/early 20s audience, that ends up providing an entertaining but shallow movie.

The plot is simple. Bobby Boucher (Sandler) is a not-so-bright man who enjoys his job of serving "fine H2O" to the football team. When he gets fired he is devastated, but his Mama (Kathy Bates) is overjoyed as she thinks school, football, girls and everything else are the Devil. Boucher is not happy without his waterboy position and finds himself working for Coach Klein (Winkler) at a small Louisiana college.

What follows is typical feel-good movie fare. Boucher goes to college, develops a love interest and plays football, all behind his mother's back. After leading his team to the Bourbon Bowl, Boucher tries to get even with the opposing team's coach, his previous employer.

As simple as the story is, "Waterboy" is truly entertaining at times. Boucher's special tackling ability, in which he concentrates on someone who makes him angry and focuses that anger on the ball carrier, is funny. Each sack and tackle is done in a different way, and each one can practically be felt in the audience. Whether it is a totally horizontal flying kick into the quarterback or a "Captain Insano" suplex, you cannot help but keep your eyes transfixed to the screen so you do not miss one.

A particularly amusing scene is when Boucher is on the offensive, blocking for the running back. He proceeds to take out each potential tackler with devastating shoulder blocks as the running back streaks down the sideline. It is at times like these that the movie shines, with the audience cheering on each tackle and laughing at the result.

The problem with "Waterboy" is that these scenes are not plentiful until the end and the scenes in between are pretty weak. There are some good moments, especially those in the Boucher household, but mostly they seem to be there to set up the next football scene.

The acting is nothing special. Bates does a good job as Mama Boucher, but the limited role must not have been much of a strain on her abilities. Sandler does not quite arouse sympathy, but is pitiful enough to get the audience rooting for him.

You do not have to be a football fan to enjoy this movie, but you should enjoy demeaning humor before putting down $8 to see it. "Waterboy" does not pretend to be geared toward anyone else, but it is a shame all the scenes could not have been as amusing as the football ones. Maybe it would be better if Sandler sung "The Chanukah Song" between tackles.