It's an Adam Sandler movie (fortunately, I like the guy)

Rating: Null/10 (19 May 2003)

Bobby Boucher is fired from his job as waterboy for the UL football team after 18 years. He has to return home to his mother deep in the Louisiana woods, where he and his mother share a house with a donkey who drinks out of the toilet. His mother is so happy to have Bobby home, but Bobby would like to be working. Eventually, he finds a group desperate enough to take him--the SCLSU football team, which has a 40-game losing streak, a pathetic loser of a coach, and one assistant coach who wears overalls (always with one strap broken) and speaks what sounds like gibberish but could be Cajun.
Bobby gets little respect from the players at first, and though he's used to being taunted, something finally snaps and he tackles one of the players. Coach Klein is so impressed that he talks Bobby into playing for the team, though Bobby doesn't believe his mother will let him. The coach visits the Boucher house for a meal where the main course is snake, and when he asks what's for dessert, a blue flash comes from outside and the answer is 'Squirrel'.
Mama Boucher will not let her son play 'foozball' (like just about everything else, it is of the devil), but the coach figures what she doesn't know won't hurt her. Bobby has a number of challenges, including the fact that to play he must go to class. While we don't see much of that, Bobby does manage to make a fool of himself, and he forgets he's only supposed to tackle football players. Bobby also doesn't know much about football. Eventually, though, he proves to be everything the team needs to succeed. He also gets romantically involved with a beautiful ex-convict named Vicki (Mama doesn't approve, naturally).
In all of the Adam Sandler movies I have seen except 'The Wedding Singer', Sandler has played a likeable loser with a temper who has obstacles to overcome, and I enjoy watching these Sandler characters. The only difference with this movie is that he has a Cajun accent and he stutters. Sandler's temper, though, is less pronounced here and he has to be pushed into getting mad. This movie makes good use of 'morphing', or turning people Bobby is supposed to tackle into someone he is mad at.
In addition to Sandler, Kathy Bates gives a good performance, especially in the second half. Jerry Reed is good as Bobby's former coach, except toward the end when he turns into a cartoon character. The sportscasters covering the Bobby Boucher story are convincing for the most part, but they turn silly by movie's end. I also enjoyed two ignorant fans that stood out from the crowd, the coach with the language problem, and the SCLSU football player with the number 51 whose name I don't recall hearing.
The music, while not my taste, is definitely above average for this type of movie. The mix includes Southern rock, Americana, and something that sounds like reggae but could be popular in Louisiana. There's also party music which has nothing to do with the rest of the styles, but the college students like it.
Yes, it's silly, and not particularly realistic. The ending was exciting but could never happen in real life. But it was a funny, feel-good movie anyway.