The Waterboy (1998)

A waterboy for a college football team discovers he has a unique tackling ability and becomes a member of the team.

Director:

Frank Coraci

Writers:

Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler

Stars:

Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Fairuza Balk

5 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adam Sandler	...	Robert 'Bobby' Boucher Jr.
Kathy Bates	...	Helen 'Mama' Boucher
Fairuza Balk	...	Vicki Vallencourt
Henry Winkler	...	Coach Klein
Jerry Reed	...	Coach Red Beaulieu
Lawrence Gilliard Jr.	...	Derek Wallace (as Larry Gilliard Jr.)
Blake Clark	...	Farmer Fran
Peter Dante	...	Gee Grenouille
Jonathan Loughran	...	Lyle Robideaux
Al Whiting	...	Casey Bugge
Clint Howard	...	Paco
Allen Covert	...	Walter
Rob Schneider	...	Townie
Todd Holland	...	Greg Meaney
Robert Kokol	...	Professor

Storyline

Bobby Boucher is the lowly waterboy for a college football team, until the coach discovers his amazing talent for tackling people much bigger than him. He signs the Waterboy as the new star player, but Bobby must keep it secret from his overbearing and domineering mother.

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Plot Keywords:

water | coach | college | college football | obesity | 

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Taglines:

Everybody will feel his pain November 6.

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Genres:

Comedy | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and some crude sexual humor

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 November 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Waterboy

Filming Locations:

Citrus Bowl - 1610 W. Church Street, Orlando, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$28,100,000 (Non-US) (13 August 1999)

Gross:

£3,432,519 (UK) (18 June 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Robert Simonds Productions, Touchstone Pictures, Waterboy Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The cheerleaders and outfits were donated by Boone High School in Orlando Florida.

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Goofs

Bobby has an underbite during the first part of the movie until he gets his first tackle.

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Quotes

Coach Klein: [it's half-time at the Bourbon Bowl and they're in the locker room] Anybody got an idea?
[Silence]
Derek Wallace: Hey, remember the time Bobby tackled the referee by mistake?
[Everybody chuckles]
Lyle Robideaux: Yeah, that was pretty funny. How 'bout the time Bobby tackled the guy from Louisville, and threw him into the stands?
[Everybody laughs]
Guy Grenouille: Y'all remember the time he intercepted the ball and his pants fell off, and he ran for the touchdown bare ass?
[Everybody laughs]
Farmer Fran: Remember the time Bobby Boucher...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in I Love the '90s: Part Deux: 1998 (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Doin' My Thang"
Written by Sherwin Charles, Ivan Norwood, James Carter and Travis Lane
Performed by Lifelong featuring Incident
Contains a sample of "Best of My Love"
Written by Maurice White and Al McKay

User Reviews

Revenge Of The Cajun Nerd

I have to admit: this Adam Sandler no-brainer is hilarious, just had me laughing right from the start. I'd rank it in my top ten funny movies of my collection and it features one of my favorite characters in film: Bobby Boucher Jr., a heckuva lot nicer guy than Sandler's "Happy Gilmore."

"Bobby" is about as innocent and a gentle-natured a guy as you'll find this side of Forrest Gump. You can't help but root for him, and that's the idea. What the film basically involves is another "Revenge Of The Nerds" theme except it's "nerd "- singular - as the picked-on waterboy turning the tables on the football jocks. Interesting to once again see Jerry Reed, whom I haven't seen much of since his days in "Smokey And The Bandit." He has much fatter face but everything else looked the same. Then there is Henry Winkler, "The Fonz" who now is the opposite: a guy with a terrible inferiority complex. All the characters in here are wildly exaggerated.

This cartoon-like comedy may not be high-brow, but so what? It's not totally low- brow either, but I do wonder why modern filmmakers cannot seem to make a comedy without all the sex references and the profanity. Nonetheless, Sandler's Cajun accent, his strange-looking-but pretty girlfriend (Fairuza Balk) and crazy mother (Kathy Bates, in the funniest role she's ever played) are all great fun to watch.

It's silly, particularly the ridiculous climactic football game, but then this movie is hardly to be taken seriously. It's all absurd humor, and 90 minutes was just right amount of time for it.