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Movies / On DVD / The Waterboy
The Waterboy

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The Waterboy (1998)

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31 %
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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 comments)
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    Hands up anyone who shelled-out cash at the cinema to see this pathetic sporting comedy...What were you thinking of?

    Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment 2 Comments
    06/02/08
    Channel 4 Film

    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

    A character whose manner and voice has the effect of fingernails on a blackboard!

    Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 1 Comment
    01/01/00
    Roger Ebert
    Roger Ebert
    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    For anyone expecting the comedy to rise beyond the moronic, The Waterboy is all wet!

    Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    E! Online

    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
    N/R

    Click to read the article

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

    Adam Sandler has made predictable movies with worn out plots an artform.

    Full Review Source: Juicy Cerebellum | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Alex Sandell
    Alex Sandell
    Juicy Cerebellum

    A damned funny movie!

    Full Review Source: Radio Free Entertainment | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Andrew Manning
    Andrew Manning
    Radio Free Entertainment

    It's definitely for the fans!

    comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Bob Fenster
    Bob Fenster
    Arizona Republic
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The story is really just a flimsy premise for a series of gags.

    Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Brian Webster
    Brian Webster
    Apollo Guide
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Dan Tobin
    Dan Tobin
    Boston Phoenix

    Stupid, stupid, stupid: Shame on Sandler & Co.

    comment Comment
    01/01/00
    David Elliott
    David Elliott
    San Diego Union-Tribune

    This is a movie that could have been much better.

    Full Review Source: Cinemaphile.org | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    David Keyes
    David Keyes
    Cinemaphile.org

    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

    The type of film that must have been made for 8-year-olds.

    Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Dustin Putman
    Dustin Putman
    DustinPutman.com

    Sandler and his frat-house friends have done the infant-in-an-adult-body shtick to death!

    Full Review Source: NUVO Newsweekly | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Edward Johnson-Ott
    Edward Johnson-Ott
    NUVO Newsweekly

    Sandler has proven himself a worthy alchemist with The Waterboy, transforming swamp water to Evian. Quite a refreshing if moronic romp. Sandler rocks!

    Full Review Source: Nitrate Online | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Elias Savada
    Elias Savada
    Nitrate Online

    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

    Click to read the article

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

    Charming!

    comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Gary Thompson
    Gary Thompson
    Philadelphia Daily News
     
     
    1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
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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...

    June 25, 2006: Box Office Wrapup: Sandler Fast Forwards to #1
    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
    Thanks to all sorts of annoying glitches and browser-bumbling, I cannot personally guarantee that you'll find the all-new trailer for Adam Sandler's "Click" over at... More...

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