Adam Sandler is a ridiculous, infantile creature whose shtick has grown increasingly unfunny as time has worn on. And yet, early on this NH product managed some worthwhile comedy. Lowbrow stuff all, frat-boy hijinks with little subtlety and less intellect. Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison are studies in immaturity, each character a man-child who refuses to grow up. And yet there's no shortage of laughs. This Sandler speciality finds its logical and ludicrous nadir in 1998's The Waterboy, perhaps Sandler's final watchable film, and my favorite of his juvenile oeuvre.
Bobby Boucher is a simple boy from the bayou who dreams of supplying water to football players, to providing refreshment. He has purpose in lieu of brilliance. There's pent up rage and shame as well, from a lifetime of dismissal and bullying, and he unexpectedly unleashes this in an orgy of furious gridiron violence. It's silly, probably borderline offensive stuff. And yet it's funny, if you let go of culture and adulthood and self-respect. Bobby Boucher is a rags-to-riches story of a boy who found his gift and used it to revenge himself on his enemies. There are worse things.
Plus, the porcine noise he makes when he visualizes and attacks are hilarious. Hat tip to Fonzie, Lawrence Taylor, Dan Fouts, Kathy Bates, and Fairuza Balk for their performances. It's all stupid. But funny.