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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Waterboy, The

EMAILPRINTBuena Vista Pictures

Waterboy, The reviews
41
9.1 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 18 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy

Written by: Tim Herlihy
Adam Sandler

Directed by: Frank Coraci

Release Date:
Theatrical: November 6, 1998
DVD: June 3, 2003

Running Time: 90 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for language and some crude sexual humor

Starring Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Fairuza Balk, Henry Winkler, Jerry Reed, Larry Gilliard Jr., Blake Clark, and Peter Dante

Just an oddball mama's boy from the back bayous of Louisiana, Bobby Boucher (Sandler) never wanted anything more than to quench the thirst of the dehydrated athletes who treat him like dirt! But when Coach Klein (Winkler) makes the call that allows Bobby to finally stand up for himself, it unleashes a torrent of bottled-up frustration ... and exposes a talent for tackling that transforms him from a meek "water distribution engineer" into the hardest hitter ever to roam the gridiron! (Buena Vista Entertainment)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

63

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Arguably Sandler's most enjoyable motion picture to date, but it's still far from a masterpiece.

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63

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Offers dumb fun without apology.

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60

Washington Post Rita Kempley

The Perrier of dumb-and-dumber movies, an effervescent idiot's delight that burbles from the wellspring of silliness inside star Adam Sandler's head.

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60

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

This escapist comedy is so cheerfully outlandish that it's hard to resist, and so good-hearted that it's genuinely endearing.

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60

TV Guide Ken Fox

No one does deranged quite like Kathy Bates (the film's running gag involving Bates and the delicacies of Cajun cuisine is hilarious).

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50

Variety Glenn Lovell

This yahoos-on-the-bayou farce is neither inventive nor outrageous enough.

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50

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It's not "Billy Madison," quite, but The Waterboy is still pure Sandler. If you like that sort of thing.

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50

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

A deluge of funny, inane jokes.

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50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) John Haslett Cuff

As a satire on the only true religion of the American South -- football -- The Waterboy is a delight.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

An unabashed wallow in the moronic humor of Adam Sandler.

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50

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

As funny as it can be, this underdawg comedy isn't much more than Sandler's golf-oriented "Happy Gilmore" with a Cajun accent. [6 November 1998, p. 10E]

40

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Another film about . . . a cretinous, grating loser.

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40

Empire Caroline Westbrook

Perfectly watchable, undemanding fun, but you can't help thinking that a slightly darker tone would have gone a very long way.

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40

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

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.

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40

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

Of course it's dumb, but every 10 minutes or so, it's also pretty funny.

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40

Los Angeles Times John Anderson

Follows a leadenly predictable path that will be more than familiar to anyone who's seen a recent sports movie, or any Sandler movie.

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40

The Onion (A.V. Club) Joshua Klein

A mess of bad timing, bad jokes, and bad ideas so lame that even Sandler's idiot man-child mugging can't enliven the proceedings.

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25

New York Daily News David Kehr

Working a lisping Southern accent that sounds like Truman Capote on Seconal, Sandler plays Bobby Boucher, a swamp-dwelling Cajun. [6 November 1998, p. 56]

25

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

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.

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20

Film Threat Ron Wells

A stupid summer movie.

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16

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Becomes yet another lame sports farce.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 18 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
I rarely enjoy stupid movies, I watch a film looking at it from a critics perspective, but this film broke me from that, I laughed from the beginning to end its genius.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
Adam Sandler in this movie is friggin' awesome

Roma M gave it a10:
Brilliant movie! Must be one of the best Adam Sandlers film for sure! Don't listen to critics,this movie is really really funny!

Sam M. gave it a10:
Forget the critics, this is an awesome comedy. Sandler at his best!

Steve gave it a2:
predictable tripe. i can't recall any time that i laughed - not because the jokes weren't funny; just because the punchline was just so obvious.

Bit Burn gave it a9:
Forget the critics, this is an awesome comedy. Sandler at his best!

[Anonymous] gave it an8:
Now this is comedy. The Medulla oblongata part was genius.

Read more user comments >

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