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Site created 12/15/97.

review added: 4/16/99



The Waterboy
1998 (1999) - Touchstone Home Video (Buena Vista)

review by Todd Doogan, special to The Digital Bits

The Waterboy Film Rating: B+

Disc Ratings (Video/Audio/Extras): A/B+/C+

Specs and Features

90 mins, PG-13, letterboxed widescreen (1.85:1), single-sided, single-layered, Amaray keep case packaging, film-themed menu screens, production featurette, trailer, scene access (25 chapters), languages: English (DD 5.1) and French (DD 2.0), subtitles: none, Close Captioned


Adam Sandler is an acquired taste. I have to admit, over time, the more you taste, the better you like. I look back over his short career, and I now enjoy Billy Madison, I love Happy Gilmore, and I think that The Wedding Singer is an important film for "dramady" fans. The Waterboy is a no-holds-barred retreat back to stupid Sandler movies. Stupid not in they're no fun, but stupid as in dumb.

Here Sandler plays Bobby Boucher, a 31 year old waterboy for a Louisiana college football team. It would seem that Bobby's father was killed in a desert because of dehydration -- and now Bobby will never let another person go unquenched. Bobby is ruled by his mother, played hysterically (but with a raised eyebrow as to why?) by Kathy Bates. Tapping into his inner rage, Bobby becomes the greatest tackle to ever play the game, and brings a loser school up from the swampy bottom to the sun-shiny top of the collegiate bowl games. A worst to first tale as only Sandler could do. Yes, there is plenty of bathroom humor, and yes Sandler gets the girl in the end -- there will be no deviating from a money making format with this one.

The DVD is a good looking one. The image is sharp, colors are bright and there aren't many flaws to be found. Sound quality is high, with Sandler's hard hitting thumps well represented by your subwoofer. There are a couple of extras; a trailer and a 3 minute promo featurette with behind-the-scenes stuff. For Sandler fans, it's a must have, for DVD collectors, it's a good buy.

Todd Doogan
todddoogan@thedigitalbits.com




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