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Like it or not, football season is right around the corner—and, with it, the inevitable against-all-odds football dramas. But, if you ask me, there’s something not quite right about those tear-jerking football dramas. You see, the football fans that I know wouldn’t be caught dead sniffling and crying about some football player who beat the odds to make the team (or at least not that they’d admit). No, those die-hard football fans who tailgate and paint their faces and decorate their houses in team colors tend to prefer rowdy comedies—like Adam Sandler’s The Waterboy.
Ever since he was just a kid, Bobby Boucher (Sandler) has served as water boy for the University of Louisiana’s football team, providing high-quality refreshment for some of the best players in the NCAA. He loves the job—and he gives it his all—until head coach Red Beaulieu (Jerry Reed) fires him.
Determined to continue his career as a water boy, Bobby heads to nearby South Central Louisiana State University. Coach Klein (Henry Winkler) is happy to have Bobby handling his team’s hydration, but, to the team, Bobby is more of a living tackling dummy. Knowing all too well what it’s like to be bullied by a bunch of football players, Coach Klein encourages Bobby to fight back—and that’s when he discovers Bobby’s surprising talent for tackling.
Bobby could be just what the Mud Dogs need to break their 40-game losing streak. But before Bobby can join the team, Coach Klein will have to talk Bobby’s controlling, overprotective mama (Kathy Bates) into letting him play.
Though it’s built on the same rags-to-riches formula as inspirational football dramas like The Express, there’s nothing especially heartstring-tugging about The Waterboy. And if you happen to shed any tears while watching it, I think it’s safe to say that it won’t be because you’re moved by the powerful drama.
Instead, The Waterboy is outrageous and over-the-top. The story is silly, the characters are ridiculous, and most of the football scenes are little more than a series of quick cuts of hard hits. It isn’t really about feelings or other warm-fuzzy stuff—and even when the characters do talk about their feelings, it’s usually done in the silliest of ways.
Still, Sandler isn’t for everyone. And while I’ll admit that I have a soft spot for his wacky brand of comedy, simpleminded Bobby Boucher isn’t his best character. He has some memorable moments, but his clueless man-boy act is often painfully overdone—and it quickly gets old. Fortunately, though, the supporting cast picks up the slack. Bates is Southern fried crazy as Bobby’s bayou-livin’, gator-grillin’ mama, and Winkler is simply hilarious as the meek and sniveling coach who teaches Bobby to stand up for himself.
Take some goofball Sandler comedy, mix in a couple of great supporting characters, and throw in some tough chicks, some drunken hillbillies, and a heaping portion of hard-hitting football, and you get a riotous football comedy—one that pairs quite nicely with your post-game brewskies.
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