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Movies / On DVD / The Waterboy
The Waterboy

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The Waterboy (1998)

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Reviews Counted:71

Fresh:22

Rotten:49

Average Rating:4.6/10

Consensus: This is an insult to its genre with low humor and cheap gags.

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Adam Sandler is charming and disarming as he dusts off and mashes together his beloved SNL charcters Cajun Man and Canteen Boy to create Bobby Boucher, the sweet-tempered, simple-minded, bayou... Adam Sandler is charming and disarming as he dusts off and mashes together his beloved SNL charcters Cajun Man and Canteen Boy to create Bobby Boucher, the sweet-tempered, simple-minded, bayou man-child who relishes his job of eighteen years as the much-abused waterboy for the local "good" (well-funded but nasty of spirit) university's football team. True to the appropriate cine-formula, there is also a nearby "bad" (under-funded but generous of spirit) university where Bobby seeks tenure after finally being driven away from his long-time place of employment by the relentless cruelty of those whom he seeks only to refresh and hydrate. It is under the kindly tutelage of the "lesser" university's down-and-out football coach (Henry Winkler phones it in, but warmly) that Bobby realizes his unusual athletic prowess and develops some basic people skills. Kathy Bates has an enormous amount of fun, and is a laugh riot, as Bobby's earthy, over-protective, swamp-shack-dwelling mom; and Fairuza Balk is accessibly luscious in a Daisy Mae turn as Bobby's resourceful, tomboyish, creole-cutie sweetheart. Deadpan delivery, satisfying sight gags, and "elbow-your-neighbor-and-point-at-the-screen" cameos make this an attractive option for fans of the genre. [More]

Starring: Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Henry Winkler, Fairuza Balk

Starring: Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Henry Winkler, Fairuza Balk, Jerry Reed, Larry Gilliard, Blake Clark, Rob Schneider, Clint Howard

Director: Frank Coraci

Director: Frank Coraci
Screenwriter: Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler
Producer: Jack Giarraputo, Robert Simonds
Composer: Alan Pasqua

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Mar 16, 1999

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • The Waterboy
  • America's favorite wild and zany funnyman, Adam Sandler (50 FIRST DATES, MR. DEEDS, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE), scores big laughs in a smash comedy hit where the laughs never run dry! Just an oddball mama's boy from the back bayous of Louisiana, Bobby Boucher (Sandler) never wanted anything more than to quench the thirst of the dehydrated athletes who treat him like dirt! But when Coach Klein (Henry Winkler -- HOLES, TV's HAPPY DAYS) makes the call that allows Bobby to finally stand up for himself, it unleashes a torrent of bottled-up frustration ... and exposes a talent for tackling that transforms him from a meek "water distribution engineer" into the hardest hitter ever to roam the gridiron! Also featuring award-winning Kathy Bates (ABOUT SCHMIDT, TITANIC, MISERY) and sexy Fairuza Balk (ALMOST FAMOUS, RETURN TO OZ) in a hilarious cast of stars -- here's your chance to join the millions everywhere who've proudly stood and cheered for The Waterboy!
  • Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for The Waterboy

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    There's an innocence to The Waterboy that makes the picture part slapstick and part fairy tale...The only problem with letting kids see this Adam Sandler movie? They might want to see another one. [Blu-ray]

    Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
    08/12/09
    Peter Canavese
    Peter Canavese
    Groucho Reviews

    A predictable, formulaic, dumb comedy that has about as much depth as Bobby . . . unless you think of it in Forrest Gump terms, and then it begins to get a little less offensive and a little funnier.

    Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
    07/24/09
    James Plath
    James Plath
    DVDTown.com
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Boxoffice Magazine
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Jason Anderson
    Jason Anderson
    eye WEEKLY

    The formulaic mix of mirth and mayhem is aimed way down the MTV food chain...

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    06/02/08
    Glenn Lovell
    Glenn Lovell
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Perfectly watchable, undemanding fun, but you can't help thinking that a slightly darker tone would have gone a very long way.

    Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment 1 Comment
    06/02/08
    Empire Magazine

    Hands up anyone who shelled-out cash at the cinema to see this pathetic sporting comedy...What were you thinking of?

    Full Review Source: Film4 | comment 3 Comments
    06/02/08
    Film4

    The Waterboy is scrappy and funny and achieves its modest aim, which is to make us laugh like grade-schoolers. The doofus boy triumphs again.

    Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
    07/23/07
    Rob Gonsalves
    Rob Gonsalves
    eFilmCritic.com

    The direction is as blunt and vacant as the plotting, the jokes are obvious and the performances (with a couple of exceptions) charmless.

    Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
    01/26/06
    Time Out

    No stretching involved, but he delivers. It's a safe date film.

    Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
    12/06/05
    Ron Wells
    Ron Wells
    Film Threat

    The film is amiably goofy.

    Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
    07/21/05
    Jeff Millar
    Jeff Millar
    Houston Chronicle
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    It's a piece of comic fluff that has lots of laughs and appeals to the kid in us all.

    Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
    04/09/05
    Robin Clifford
    Robin Clifford
    Reeling Reviews

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
    04/02/05
    Garth Franklin
    Garth Franklin
    Dark Horizons

    The Waterboy is a disappointment, even by standards associated with Adam Sandler's work.

    Full Review Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews | comment Comment
    02/28/05
    Dragan Antulov
    Dragan Antulov
    Draxblog Movie Reviews

    Adam Sandler movies are like kumquats -- you either like them or you don't.

    Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
    01/29/05
    Philip Martin
    Philip Martin
    Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

    God knows, it tries, but most of the jokes fall flat, and the movie never gets off the ground.

    Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
    05/22/03
    Eugene Novikov
    Eugene Novikov
    Film Blather

    The Waterboy should have been sacked long before it reached the theater.

    Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
    05/20/03
    Kate Manning
    Kate Manning
    Palo Alto Weekly

    Sandler proved last year that he can be believable as a real person, but if he insists on playing overblown caricatures, he may not get many more chances.

    Full Review Source: Film Quips Online | comment Comment
    02/08/03
    John R. McEwen
    John R. McEwen
    Film Quips Online

    Not only can one see the film's "twists" coming a mile away, the jokes along the way are extraordinarily flat as well.

    Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
    11/07/02
    James Rocchi
    James Rocchi
    Netflix

    It ain't really thought provoking, but you can't deny it's terrific entertainment.

    Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal | comment Comment
    09/10/02
    Kevin N. Laforest
    Kevin N. Laforest
    Montreal Film Journal
     
     
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    Latest News for The Waterboy

    September 03, 2008: Jerry Reed: 1937-2008 Opens in new window
    Jerry Reed, the musician and actor who appeared in such films as "Smokey and the Bandit" and "The Waterboy," has passed away due to complications from emphysema. He was 71. More...

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    Moviegoers grabbed their remote controls and flocked to the multiplexes this weekend to see Adam Sandler's latest comedy Click which became the comedian's eighth number one hit... More...

    June 22, 2006: Box Office Preview: Sandler "Clicks" With New Comedy
    Although Father's Day has passed, Hollywood brings out two very different stories about dads and their wacky adventures this weekend with Adam Sandler's comedy Click and Tyrese... More...

    December 23, 2005: Trailer Bulletin: Click
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