An average movie best saved for a rainy day that could use Sandler's slapstick.

Rating: Null/10 (8 November 1998)

The Waterboy
Adam Sandler, the star of such movies as `Billy Madison' and `Happy Gilmore,' has made a return to the big screen once more in `The Waterboy.' Sandler plays the dim-wited Bobby Boucher. Boucher is a 31 year old college football waterboy. Originally, he works for the University of Louisiana, where he is continually mocked by the players. Eventually, Coach Red Beaulieu fires Boucher for being a distraction to the team. To avoid spending time with his over-bearing mother, Boucher then takes the position of waterboy for South Central Louisiana University. Once again he begins being mocked by his team. However, his new coach, Coach Klein, urges Boucher to make a stand. Boucher releases years of rage on the team's quarterback. Klein immediately recognizes Boucher's tackling abilities and asks him to play football. At first, Boucher hesitates. Eventually, he joins the team so he may make friends and earn a college education. However, he constantly faces his fear of `mama.'
The plot itself was simple and relatively under-developed. A variety of issues were brought out in the context of the story, yet Sandler's character appeared to be poorly developed. The movie seemed to spend the majority of the time focusing on Boucher's quirks and oddities. Perhaps, it would have been much more enjoyable and effective if Sandler's character had made some attempt at standing up for himself. For example, he could have fought back against the control of his mother or those who had treated him so poorly. Instead, the audience constantly sees Boucher, a generally good-hearted and caring individual, being `played' for strictly utilitarian means by a number of other characters in the movie. On top of this, Sandler does a poor job of creating an interesting character. It seemed as if his acting did not vary greatly from any of his previous movie roles. Apparently, his acting abilities are limited to his traditional whiny voice. Unfortunately, the audience is left with a character who is hilarious on a slapstick level, yet has no real depth.
In defense of the movie, Sandler is very adept at creating a character whose stupidity will have the audience laughing in stitches. As usual, he does an excellent job of physically portraying his character. By this, he plays his role to an extreme. This extreme often gives him the opportunity to convey certain messages, such as a character's emotions, to his audience. He goes to great lengths to show how Boucher feels. Sandler makes Boucher's pain, love, and excitement obvious throughout the story. The depth of these emotions allows the audience to relate intimately with his character. On top of this, he is backed by a wonderful group of supporting actors, including Kathy Bates, Fairuza Balk, Henry Winkler, and Jerry Reed I. This combination helps the 1 hour and 30 minute movie run very quickly.
All-in-all the movie is slightly above average. It lacks a great deal of development and raises serious questions about Sandler's acting abilities. However, as usual, Sandler's slapstick always retains a certain amount of humor. Nevertheless, the movie may be better saved for a rainy day rental.