The Waterboy
| The Waterboy | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Frank Coraci |
| Produced by | |
| Written by | Tim Herlihy Adam Sandler |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Alan Pasqua |
| Cinematography | Steven Bernstein |
| Edited by | Tom Lewis |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $23 million |
| Box office | $186 million |
Lynn Swann, Lawrence Taylor, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Cowher, Paul "The Big Show" Wight and Rob Schneider have cameo appearances. The movie was extremely profitable, earning $161.5 million in North America alone.[1] This was Sandler's second film to eclipse $120 million worldwide in 1998 along with The Wedding Singer.[1]
Adam Sandler's character, Bobby Boucher (pronounced /buːˈʃeɪ/ boo-SHAY), bears a strong resemblance to his "The Excited Southerner" comedic skits from his album What the Hell Happened to Me? The portrayal is one of a stereotypical Cajun from the bayous of South Louisiana, not the typical stereotype of a Southerner. He also shares similarities in speech and mannerism to Canteen Boy, a recurring character, also portrayed by Sandler, on Saturday Night Live.[2] Like Bobby, Canteen Boy was a soft-spoken manchild who preferred "purified water, right out of the old canteen," which he always carried with him.
Contents
Plot
Bobby Boucher (Adam Sandler) is a socially inept, stuttering 31-year-old water boy of the University of Louisiana's football program [3] He lives with his excessively protective mother, Helen (Kathy Bates), and believes his father, Robert Sr., died of dehydration in the Sahara while serving in the Peace Corps.As school authorities notice the players constantly bullying Boucher, the Cougars' head coach, Red Beaulieu (Jerry Reed), fires Boucher, claiming he is "disruptive." Bobby approaches Coach Klein (Henry Winkler) of the far more austere South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs and is hired as the team's water boy. The Mud Dogs are a struggling team both on and off the field. They have lost 40 consecutive games, their cheerleaders are alcoholics, and players are forced to share equipment due to budget cuts.
Helen forbids Bobby from playing football, warning him of its "evils." After the new team picks on him, Klein encourages Bobby to stand up for himself, leading to him tackling and knocking out the team's quarterback. It turns out Bobby has hidden anger issues due to Helen's excessive sheltering and years being bullied. Seeing his potential, Klein meets with Helen and tries to persuade her to let Bobby play, but she refuses.
Klein eventually convinces Bobby to play without letting Helen know. Bobby quickly becomes one of the most feared linebackers. In his first game, he causes a turnover that costs the team the win, but he helps the team win the next game (with Klein telling him to visualize his enemies angering him and attack), ending their long losing streak. The Mud Dogs go on a winning streak and earn a trip to the annual Bourbon Bowl to face the Cougars and Coach Beaulieu. Bobby's newfound fame and confidence also allow him to reconnect with his childhood crush, Vicki Vallencourt (Fairuza Balk), who has been in prison multiple times. Helen forbids Bobby from seeing her, warning him that girls are "the devil."
Beaulieu crashes the Mud Dogs' pep rally and reveals that Bobby never finished high school (being homeschooled by his mother) and his high school transcript was fake, making him ineligible for college and football. This turns the team and fans against him. Klein convinces NCAA to let Bobby play if he can pass a GED exam. He apologizes to Bobby and admits to submitting the fake transcript because he was desperate to get even with Beaulieu. It is revealed that Klein and Beaulieu used to be assistant coaches at the University of Louisiana. Beaulieu took credit for Klein's playbook, got promoted to head coach, and immediately fired Klein. The experience drove Klein to a mental breakdown, making him unable to come up with new plays. The story convinces Bobby to help Klein get revenge on Beaulieu and prove himself to everyone. While studying, Bobby inadvertently reveals to Helen that he has been playing football, going to college, and seeing Vicki. This leads to them having a fight that ends with Bobby defying his mother.
Bobby passes the exam, but Helen feigns illness. Feeling he drove his mother to illness, Bobby stays in the hospital with her. Meanwhile, Vicki spreads word of Bobby passing the exam. This leads to a gathering of fans at the hospital who apologize for not supporting him and try to convince him to play. Seeing her son struggling to ignore his calling, Helen realizes the error of her ways and ends her fake illness. She tells Bobby the truth about his father, Robert Sr., who left home to find work in New Orleans as a means to support their family. The only reason she lied about him dying in a missionary work with the Peace Corps in the Sahara is because she had to protect Bobby from the truth of his father's actions. After Robert Sr. changed his named to Roberto, he had an affair with a voodoo priestess and willingly abandoned her while she was pregnant with Bobby. Consequently, this lead to Helen sheltering him all his life and is constantly afraid that Bobby would leave her, which was why she faked being sick in order to keep him by her side. Having seen him being happy and making new friends, she realized how selfish she had been to him. The best thing Helen can do is let Bobby go and encourages him to play in the Bourbon Bowl.
Arriving at halftime, Bobby finds the Mud Dogs losing 27-0. He tries to encourage the team, who apologizes for not treating him with the respect he deserves. With Bobby's help, Coach Klein overcomes his fear of Beaulieu (by visualizing his enemy as something he's not afraid of) and comes up with new plays. The Mud Dogs begin to catch up, unsettling Beaulieu, who resorts to underhanded tactics. Meanwhile, Helen helps by sobering up the team's cheerleaders in making coffee, while Vicki fills in for Bobby's usual waterboy duties. Eventually, the Mud Dogs win the Bourbon Bowl by a score of 30-27(like Vicki predicted) and ending Beaulieu's "perfect season" with the Cougars. Bobby is named the MVP.
Some time later, Bobby and Vicki get married. Robert, Sr. (director Frank Coraci in a cameo role) shows up and tries to convince Bobby to skip school and go to the NFL, citing the success of Tiger Woods and his father. He is tackled to the ground by an enraged Helen out of revenge for his actions, while the crowd cheers. Bobby and Vicki leave to consummate their marriage.
Cast
- Adam Sandler as Robert 'Bobby' Boucher, Jr.
- Kathy Bates as Helen 'Mama' Boucher
- Henry Winkler as Coach Klein
- Fairuza Balk as Vicki Vallencourt
- Jerry Reed as Coach Red Beaulieu
- Peter Dante as Gee Grenouille
- Larry Gilliard, Jr. as Derek Wallace
- Blake Clark as Farmer Fran
- Jonathan Loughran as Lyle Robideaux
- Clint Howard as Paco
- Allen Covert as Walter
- Rob Schneider as The Townie; Schneider reprises this role in Adam Sandler's 2000 film Little Nicky, despite being made by New Line Cinema; in turn, Sandler plays the same townie in Schneider's film The Animal.
- Kevin Farley as Jim Simonds
- Frank Coraci as Robert 'Roberto' Boucher, Sr.
- Paul Wight as Captain Insano
- Soon Hee Newbold as Mud Dog Cheerleader
- Dan Fouts as himself (ABC Sports commentator)
- Brent Musburger as himself (ABC Sports commentator)
- Lynn Swann as himself (ABC Sports commentator)
- Chris Fowler as himself (ESPN commentator)
- Lee Corso as himself (ESPN commentator)
- Trevor Miller as himself
- Moosie The Cocker Spaniel as herself
- Dan Patrick as himself (ESPN SportsCenter commentator)
- Lawrence Taylor as himself (LT's Louisiana Lightning Training Football Camp)
- Bill Cowher as himself (Pittsburgh Steelers coach)
- Jimmy Johnson as himself (Miami Dolphins coach)
- Jennifer Bini Taylor as Rita
Filming and production
The Waterboy was mostly filmed in the Central Florida and Orlando area as well as around Daytona Beach, DeLand, Florida, Lakeland, Florida, and surrounding areas.The Mud Dogs home games were filmed at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand, Florida, home of the local high school team (the DHS Bulldogs). The classrooms and gym where Bobby takes the GED are part of Stetson University, also located in DeLand. Stetson's Carlton Student Union building is featured in the scene where Bobby is told his mother has been hospitalized.
The scenes involving mama's cabin were shot on Lake Louisa, in Clermont, Florida.
Coach Klein's (Henry Winkler's) office was a stage built inside of the Florida Army National Guard Armory in DeLand, Florida. It is home of Btry B 1st Bn 265th ADA. If one was to look closely, in the background of the practice field scenes, they can see the Armory and some military vehicles.
The initial exterior shot of the University of Louisiana stadium was EverBank Field in Jacksonville; the interior of the stadium is actually the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The Citrus Bowl was also the filming location for the climatic Bourbon Bowl game, while the flyover shot at the beginning of the game is of Williams-Brice Stadium at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina.
The "medulla oblongata" scene was filmed at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. The extras in the scene were students at the college, and the scene was shot on campus in Edge Hall.
Soundtrack
| The Waterboy: Original Soundtrack | |
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| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | November 3, 1998 |
| Length | 54:53 |
| Label | Hollywood |
Track listing
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Born on the Bayou" | Creedence Clearwater Revival | 5:15 |
| 2. | "More Today Than Yesterday" | Goldfinger | 3:22 |
| 3. | "Boom Boom" | Big Head Todd and the Monsters | 3:33 |
| 4. | "Feed It" | The Candyskins | 3:35 |
| 5. | "Peace Frog" | The Doors | 2:57 |
| 6. | "Let's Groove" | Earth, Wind & Fire | 5:38 |
| 7. | "Always on the Run" | Lenny Kravitz | 3:53 |
| 8. | "Doin' My Thang" | Incidents / Lifelong | 4:10 |
| 9. | "Small Town" | John Mellencamp | 3:40 |
| 10. | "New Year's Eve" | Joe Walsh | 4:00 |
| 11. | "No One to Run With" | The Allman Brothers Band | 5:58 |
| 12. | "Tom Sawyer" | Rush | 4:34 |
| 13. | "Glowing Soul" | Candlebox | 4:18 |
| Total length: | 54:53 | ||
Critical reception
The Waterboy received mostly mixed to negative reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, 35% of the reviews were positive, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The site's consensus says "The Waterboy is an insult to its genre with low humor and cheap gags."[5] At Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 41%, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[6]Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun Times gave the film a negative review, saying "Sandler is making a tactical error when he creates a character whose manner and voice has the effect of fingernails on a blackboard, and then expects us to hang in there for a whole movie."[7] Lisa Alspector of the Chicago Reader also gave the film a negative review, writing "Geek-triumphs-after-all comedies can be charming, but in this one the triumphing begins so early it's hard to feel for the geek."[8] Michael O'Sullivan of the Washington Post described the movie as "Another film about . . . a cretinous, grating loser."[9]
Manohla Dargis of L.A Weekly gave the film a mixed review, writing: "Of course it's dumb, but every 10 minutes or so, it's also pretty funny."[10] Glen Lovell of Variety said of the film, "This yahoos-on-the-bayou farce is neither inventive nor outrageous enough.".[11] David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews also gave the film a mixed review, calling it "an agreeable yet forgettable comedy".[12]
Janet Maslin of The New York Times said the film was "so cheerfully outlandish that it's hard to resist, and so good-hearted that it's genuinely endearing.".[13] Mark Savlov of the Austin Chronicle also gave the film a positive review and said the film was "A mildly amusing bayou farce with plenty of 'foosball' action to liven the sometimes plodding proceedings."[14]
The film grossed $185,991,646 worldwide from a $20 million budget.[15]
Awards and nominations
For his role Sandler was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor. The film was also a nominee for the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs.[16]References
- "AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-10-04.
External links
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Waterboy |
Categories:
- 1998 films
- English-language films
- 1990s sports comedy films
- American films
- American football films
- American sports comedy films
- Films about virginity
- Films directed by Frank Coraci
- Films set in Louisiana
- Films shot in Florida
- Pittsburgh Steelers in popular culture
- Screenplays by Adam Sandler
- Screenplays by Tim Herlihy
- Touchstone Pictures films
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