The Waterboy
Director: Frank Coraci
Year Released: 1998
Rating: 2.5
Bobby Boucher (Adam Sandler), who works as the Gunga Din for a lousy football team and lives with his overprotective Mama (Kathy Bates), finds out he can channel his inner rage (a Sandler theme) and crush people on the turf, so his coach (Henry Winkler) puts him in as the starting linebacker. Although its aims are so, so low - going through a trite storyline, Sandler trying on yet another bad accent, athlete cameos galore (L.T.!) - it has an enduring, innocent element to it that has made it a cult comedy from the '90s, thanks largely to an all-in supporting cast (Bates, Winkler and Rob Schneider provide the chuckles) as well as the presence of Fairuza Balk as Boucher's devoted (but criminally mischievous) girlfriend. While no critic pleaser, as a bastard child of Slap Shot it has its moments, and remember: you can do it! (cut his head off).
