Waterboy one up on Happy Gilmore

Waterboy one up on Happy Gilmore

By Sean Morrison and Will Raiman
Random Numbers Department
ATLANTA
November 6, 1998

	By Jon Farmer / TOUCHSTONE PICTURES
	Adam Sandler, the born-again football player, takes direction from his coach on delivering water as well as tackling and drop-kicking members of the opposing team into submission.

Studio: Touchstone
Running Time: 90 mins. short
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Adam Sandler, Henry Winkler, Kathy Bates, Fairuza Balk
Acting: 2.0 / 5.0
Action: 4.0 / 5.0
Drama: 3.0 / 5.0
Humor: 5.0 / 5.0
Suspense: 1.0 / 5.0

Waterboy is the heartwarming story of a college football team's mentally-challenged water boy Bobby Boucher (Adam Sandler) who rises to fame as an extremely effective tackler. The team's coach (Henry Winkler) clings to the water boy as his only hope of winning games, and the water boy's Mom clings to him as any psycho mom would.

Sean: I think that I should preface our review with the following note about our impartiality towards this movie: we have none! I've wanted to see this movie since I first saw the trailer. When the pass showed up in the Technique office, Will and I threatened bodily harm to any one who tried to take it from us (senior staff writers get perks).

Will: You weren't even there! I had to kill our editor. With bloody pass triumphantly in hand, we walked into the movie and laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Indeed, anyone who has seen one of the many great Adam Sandler movies knows how consistently funny (and bizarre) they can be.

Sean: And this was one of Sandler's funniest to date. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure I laughed more (and harder) than I did when I first saw Happy Gilmore. I think what set this movie apart from many in the genre is that Adam Sandler really grasped the motivations behind the character of Bobby Boucher. . . or maybe it was just because it was full of wacky stuff that was hilariously out of left field.

Will: Wacky stuff is good. For example, Bobby's girlfriend Vicki (Fairuza Balk) is an ex-con who is constantly offering to steal or kill for Bobby. Another terribly fun part of this movie is the central football theme. Watching Bobby go to town tackling endless quarterbacks is like watching the highlight reel on SportsCenter.

Sean: As an avid fan of SportsCenter, I especially enjoyed the little blurbs in the movie where Dan Patrick is talking about Bobby. There were also a number of other funny cameos (and one very ironically funny one). Then there is always Kathy Bates, who does a superb job portraying Bobby's psycho mother.

Will: Nothing says, "psycho mom" like frog cakes. Mmmm, that's right: crispy, crunchy frog cakes fresh from the oven. Indeed, the Southern Louisiana setting adds a lot to the atmosphere of this movie. Look for lots of dentally-maladjusted locals speaking in unintelligible Creole. What I can't figure out is how South Central Louisiana State University ended up playing Clemson and Ohio in football games.

Sean: Well, everyone knows that Climpsun is a redneck school, so who better for them to play than a bunch of inbred backwater Creoles? I really must say, however, that some of the wacky stuff was just a bit too wacky for me. I mean, I really loved this movie, but there was just some stuff that, well, was just plain wrong.

Will: You wouldn't be referring to the forty-something pasty white redneck with prominent nipple rings, would you? Or maybe the rampant eating of poorly prepared furry woodland creatures? Fortunately, that sort of stuff isn't too common in the movie, and I think was just in there for the shock value. It was really quite shocking (or at least quite disturbing)! Once again though that bizarre stuff is something that helps define Adam Sandler's movies.

Sean: True. Who could forget Steve Buscemi with his list of people to kill and his scarlet red lipstick in Billy Madison? Or Chubbs and his one-eyed hand-eating alligator in Happy Gilmore? Just like Chris Farley's trademark was slapstick, physical humor, Adam Sandler's trademark is bizarre, off-kilter humor. You just never know what to expect, that truly adds a fun element to the movie.

Will: Fun is the name of the game in an Adam Sandler movie. We were both laughing throughout the movie, and there were lots of surprises to keep us on our toes. Anyone who likes football would also get a kick out of this film. I loved all the great 'football players are dumb' jokes. Go see it! It's funny! So there!

Sean: Ooh, you sure told them. Let me just summarize my feelings on this movie. This movie was stupid in parts, silly when it wasn't stupid and often predictable. . . I laughed my hinder off watching it. When it opens this Friday, I will probably go see it again. So don't miss this one, go see it. Laugh! The world needs more laughter anyway.

Copyright © 1998 by Gregory S. Scherrer, Editor and by the Student Publications Board

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