The Water Boy (1998)

Directed by: Frank Coraci | 90 minutes | comedy, sports | Actors: Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Fairuza Balk, Henry Winkler, Jerry Reed, Larry Gilliard Jr., Blake Clark, Peter Dante, Jonathan Loughran, Al Whiting, Clint Howard, Allen Covert, Rob Schneider, Todd Holland, Robert Kokol

Adam Sandler has made several films with screenwriter Tim Herlily (including ‘Mr. Deeds’, ‘The Waterboy’ and ‘The Wedding Singer’) and also with director Frank Coraci (including ‘Click’, ‘The Waterboy’ and ‘The Wedding Singer’). We often see the same headlines as Allen Covert and for example Adam Sandler’s buddy Rob Schneider, who usually shows up as a cameo with some funny comments here and there. A clear line can be seen in characters, structure and theme: sucker is forced to stand up for himself. Often this figure suffers from suppressed anger that he eventually has to learn to use for good, transforming himself from wimp to hero.

In ‘The Waterboy’, the mischievous Bobby (Sandler) learns from Coach Klein (Henry Winkler, Fonzie from ‘Happy Days’) how to visualize the people and situations that frustrate him and how to use the anger that arises on the sports field. What would also be a nice fact in a serious film, is used here as a ‘running gag’ and as an engine for the story. The film has many funny ingredients and nice characters. One of the most comical types is the assistant coach, a kind of ‘local inbreed’ from the swamps, who jabbertalks an unintelligible local dialect. Also amusing is Bobby’s obsession with high-quality water, a simple but effective fact that, when implemented consistently, gives rise to some nice jokes, as well as his mother’s long-held blind adoration, another key feature of the film.

Less successful is the weird voice of Bobby himself, in a role that is reminiscent of Tom Hanks in ‘Forrest Gump’, but who can’t match this in terms of depth and credibility. Perhaps it would have been better if he had left out that weird little voice.

‘The Waterboy’ isn’t Adam Sandler’s best comedy. The film is nice, but the story and its execution are on the level of a children’s film, which will be a problem for many adults. The screenplay suffers from too fast turns; conflicts are too easily circumvented or resolved, suddenly everything is fine again, too quickly, too easily. Such as the coach who suddenly doesn’t seem crazy anymore, the star player of the team who hates Bobby, disappears from the picture for a while and later seems to like him and like the neurotic mother (Kathy Bates) who changes her character very suddenly. As a viewer it sometimes gives you the feeling that you are not being taken seriously.

Still, as with most of Sandler’s films, this film is quite charming. Entertainment in a formulaic way, where the makers know how to push the right buttons, but where the credibility of the story and characters are put second. If you accept that as a viewer, you won’t have a bad evening.