Great until halftime

Rating: 8/10 (12 April 1999)

Adam Sandler is not everyone's cup of tea, and that's fortunate for him. If he tried to please everyone by adapting his sophomoric brand of humor for mass consumption, it would be like adding spaghetti to ice cream. I've always been a Sandler fan, and my wife has always been a Sandler detractor, but this one-two-three punch of his last few movies has actually turned her around. She wouldn't want to see him all the time, but she no longer says, "That guy just isn't funny," like she did when he was on Saturday Night Live. The first half of this movie is nonstop laughs. It manages to dance on the border of clever and stupid and makes you laugh in spite of yourself. Then, it turns into every other kind of "underdog against all odds" movie you've ever seen. The Waterboy does not play for a second half team. Clearly catering to the lowest common denominator, the movie becomes so bland that you almost forget how good the first half tasted. Almost.