The Waterboy (1998)
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A socially inept water boy for a struggling football team discovers his hidden potential as a formidable player.
The story
Bobby Boucher is a socially inept, stuttering man who serves as the water boy for the University of Louisiana football program. After being fired by the head coach for being disruptive, he joins the struggling South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs. While the team faces various hardships, including budget cuts and a losing streak, Bobby's unique abilities are noticed by the coach. When the team's coach encourages Bobby to stand up for himself, he reveals a hidden physical prowess. The coach then attempts to convince Bobby's overprotective mother to let him join the team as a player, leading to a journey of personal growth and athletic discovery.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Bobby Boucher is a socially inept, stuttering man who serves as the water boy for the University of Louisiana football program. After being fired by the head coach, he joins the struggling Mud Dogs. After a confrontation where he stands up for himself, Coach Klein tries to convince his protective mother, Helen, to let him play. Despite her initial refusal, Bobby joins the team and becomes a formidable linebacker. The team begins to win, but a scandal involving a fake transcript and a confrontation with their rivals leads to Bobby being declared ineligible. To stay in the game, he must pass a GED exam. During this time, he faces a complicated relationship with his crush, Vicky. After passing his exams and reconciling with his mother—who reveals the truth about his father—Bobby joins the team for the climactic Bourbon Bowl. He overcomes his fears and the team's obstacles to win the game. The film ends with Bobby and Vicky getting married, and a reunion with his father.
- First release year
- 1998
- Runtime (minutes)
- 90
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Frank Coraci
- Writers
- Adam Sandler · writer; Tim Herlihy · writer
- Cast and characters
- Adam Sandler · Bobby Boucher; Kathy Bates · Helen; Fairuza Balk · Vicky Vallencourt; Jerry Reed · Red Beaulieu; Henry Winkler · Coach Klein
- Genres
- sports comedy
- Themes
- overcoming adversity; mother-son relationship; self-discovery
- Tone and mood
- comedy; humorous
- Premise and plot tags
- sports; underdog
- Source material / true-story basis
- one of Adam Sandler's Saturday Night Live characters
- Content notes
- language
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics but was highly profitable, becoming the highest-grossing film in the sports comedy genre as of 2020.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 33% · scale: percentage · review count: 75; Metacritic · score: 41% · scale: percentage · review count: 21
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Actor · 2000 · nomination; Stinkers Bad Movie Awards · Most Annoying Fake Accent · 1998 · win; Blockbuster Entertainment Award · performance · 1998 · win; MTV Movie Award · performance · 1998 · win
- Production trivia
- The film was highly profitable, earning $190.2 million worldwide on a $23 million budget.; The film was the highest-grossing in its genre as of 2020.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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