Coach Klein: Gatorade not only quenches your thirst better, it tastes better too.
Bobby Boucher: No.
Coach Klein: Gatorade.
Bobby Boucher: H2O.
Coach Klein: Gatorade.
Bobby Boucher: H2O.
Coach Klein: Water sucks. It really, really sucks. Water sucks.
You might argue that MAJOR LEAGUE started it this one, back in 1989, spawning the misfit sports genre. The formula isn't unheard of: a bunch of unlikelies suddenly find themselves in the middle of the league championship and the media spotlight for the first time in an insanely long amount of time. Or perhaps you'd argue that the real fuel for this movie came from 1994's FORREST GUMP, a classic pearl of a movie about those with less-than-average IQs finding the real hero inside of themselves. But maybe you'd most like to argue that Adam Sandler - of all people - could never do justice to either.
You'd be right on all three accounts, because the latest from the people that brought you THE WEDDING SINGER is a step down for Sandler and company. Although the comic himself undoubtedly finds his newer role more comfortable, he sacrifices a lot of charm and uniqueness simply to play the buffoon. The producers won't mind - Sandler is in a league of comics that can draw a sufficient box office minimum and often do more - but Sandler himself is lacking the maturity that is necessary for him to have an extended career in Hollywood.
The cast is one big stereotype dictionary, and a lot of the supporting roles add to the idiot humor. Sandler himself is the Forrest Gump town idiot and experienced waterboy named Bobby Boucher. At 32 years old, however, he's finding it hard to keep a job, and eventually winds up at the degenerate South Central Lousiana State University. There, a football coach named Klein (Henry Winkler) recognizes his newfound waterboy as a tackling savant and immediately recruits him to play linebacker. Although against his overprotective mother (Kathy Bates)'s wishes, he's cheered on by his girlfriend Vicki (Fairuza Balk) and the rest of the university as he leads the team to the conference championship.
Anything on the character side of this movie is taken straight from FORREST GUMP - be it Bobby's mother, his girlfriend, or the friend in Coach Klein. And everything else, on the football side, is MAJOR LEAGUE redone for gridiron glory - the screwloose announcer, the drunken cheerleading squad, and the two fans sitting in the bleachers. Neither works particularly well in a Sandler movie - the humor isn't intelligent enough for that - but between the two, enough of the movie manages to come out above water. In all, there's a certain bottom line to Sandler movies: if you've been out of college for a good while, you're never going to get it. But for the adolescents, it's their night away from the folks, and THE WATERBOY is worth the bucket of popcorn.
By : Craig Roush
Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
Rating: 2
It's amazing how a comedian can have the some of the funniest stand-up around but completely fall flat in the movies. Take Adam Sandler. On the basis of his first two CDs ("They're All Gonna Laugh at You!" and "What the Hell Happened to Me?"), he's the best thing to hit comedy since Robin Williams. But when you put him in front of a camera, it just isn't the same. I kind of enjoyed Happy Gilmore and thought that it warranted a marginal recommendation, but his latest film, The Waterboy is about as funny as a root canal.
Seriously, I'm willing to wager than there were more laughs in Saving Private Ryan than there are here. In fact, I found this movie to be more depressing than comedic. The first half hour generated not one smile in me, with it's scenes of emotional abuse towards Adam's character of Bobby Boucher not only by the cruel football players, but also by his very disturbed mother (Kathy Bates - what is the world coming to?). Granted, after the film gets rolling, there are a few mild chuckles throughout (I'm even willing to admit that it actually had me laughing once or twice), but not nearly enough to sustain The Waterboy for it's nearly hour and a half running time.
You're all familiar with the plot because you've seen it at least a million times before; everyone picks on the hero until he shows a hidden talent and leads the underdog team to victory over the champions, in the process not only winning the respect of his teammates but also getting the woman he loves. And believe me, I'm not giving anything away by saying that Sandler's team wins. If you would actually feel any degree of suspense watching this movie, then God be with you.
The only things that keep this bomb from getting the big banana are the winning performances from Henry Winkler as the insecure coach and the severely underrated Fairuza Balk as Bobby's love interest. I mean, they should be lending their talents to some loftier purpose, but they do extremely well with what they are given here. Kudos to both of them.
My advice to Adam is to try and follow in the footsteps of veteran comedians like Williams and Steve Martin, who made a very smooth and successful transition from stage to screen. Rely more on actual comedy rather than strange voices and rude noises to make people laugh. Or maybe even show what dramatic talent he might have, like Jim Carrey did with the recent Truman Show. With the obvious and considerable talent that he possesses, he just can't keep going on like this
