The Waterboy Blu-ray offers solid video and audio, but overall it's a mediocre Blu-ray release
Bobby Boucher, a socially inept 31-year-old from the swamps of Louisiana, is home schooled
and sheltered by his over-protective Mama. His only contact with society is his waterboy job for
a college team where the players relentlessly make fun of him, and his coach doesn't let him
fight back. This all changes when Bobby gets a new coach who lets him stand up for himself.
Bobby finally releases years of pent up rage and is transformed into the most devastating
tackler on the team. Now Bobby has to learn how to play football and go to college, all behind
his Mama's back. Let's just hope Mama doesn't find out.
Of all the young talents who found their footing on the Cosby Show, I doubt anyone looked at the twenty-something actor playing Theo's denim-clad pal Smitty and said, "that kid's going to be huge one day." Yet here we are. Adam Sandler, he of Saturday Night Live legend and Happy Madison Productions fame, may have been Smitty in 1987, but today he's a legitimate star; a successful actor/writer/producer/comedian/entrepreneur extraordinaire whose films have grossed more than 2.5 billion dollars at the worldwide box office. So how did a relative unknown become one of Hollywood's lucrative heavyweights? How did he make his way from back-alley clubs to the stomping grounds of LA's rich and famous? With a little bit of patience, a lot of good fortune, and a parade of bumbling manchildren like The Waterboy's Bobby Boucher.
"Now that's what I call high quality H2O."
Bobby isn't as dense as Billy Madison or as irresponsible as Happy Gilmore, but he does have quite a few problems all his own. Born and raised in the backwater swamps of Louisiana, the socially inept young man is cursed with a debilitating stutter, sheltered by an overprotective mother (Kathy Bates), and ridiculed by everyone he knows. It doesn't help that he's spent the last eighteen years of his life working as a lowly waterboy for the University of Louisiana Cougars football team. But that all changes when the Cougars' head coach, Red Beaulieu (Jerry Reed), fires Bobby for disrupting practices. Reeling from his sudden lack of purpose, Bobby takes an unpaid position with the South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs, a team of losers led by the equally hapless Coach Klein (Henry Winkler). Everything returns to normal... until the mild mannered cajun inadvertently unleashes his pent-up rage and levels the team's captain with a devastating tackle. Realizing he has a secret weapon on his hands, Coach Klein promotes the waterboy to linebacker and sets his sights on beating his former colleague and decades-old rival, Coach Beaulieu.
Once upon a wintery, late '90s morn, The Waterboy struck me as a hilarious romp through familiar genre waters; an infectious mingling of Sandler's patented sketch comedy skills and the tale of an underdog trapped beneath the oppressive thumb of his meddlesome mama. But today, some ten years later, the film isn't the laugh-a-minute riot it once was. It's still amusing, sure, and even remains one of Sandler's better early career outings, but it has too much in common with an SNL skit that's been dragged on for far too long. Supporting characters turn out to be little more than one-note caricatures, repetitive gags wear out their welcome, and the story itself is too obsessed with genre conventions to surprise anyone. Sandler fans will be able to predict his every move, and sports enthusiasts will recognize each budding plot strand long before they come to fruition. Even Bobby, as lovable a protagonist as he is, gets caught up in the same, tired gaffes that have haunted his cinematic kind since the early '70s. The entire film is stagnant; a dated relic of a bygone comedic age littered with silly voices, uninspired routines, and nearly forgotten pop culture references.
That being said, comedy is, and will always be, a fickle thing. One man's Groundhog Day is another man's Cabin Boy. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who will thoroughly enjoy watching a stuttering cajun emerge as a brilliant footballer. And I'm sure there are just as many cold-hearted malcontents who will hate every heavy-handed minute of Sandler's schtick. But the true joy of comedy is in the discovery. For that reason, and that reason alone, The Waterboy is worth some consideration. There are laughs to be had -- potential gut-busters at that -- so it all comes down to your personal tastes, your willingness to accept the film on its own terms, and your embrace or rejection of its wares. Me? I thought it was decent but dated; a nostalgic trip I doubt I'll take again. You? Like I said, the joy is in the discovery.
The Waterboy features a satisfying 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that, despite a few persistent issues, looks pretty good for a ten-year-old catalog title. Steven Bernstein's palette is definitely overcooked -- sun-ripened skintones dominate the image and primaries are quite overbearing at times -- but it serves the sweltering Louisiana heat well. As a result, the Cougars' orange and blue uniforms pop against the green field, and overall dimensionality is commendable. Detail is slightly inconsistent from shot to shot, but generally delivers natural textures, tidy edges, and admirable clarity. Moreover, contrast remains strong, delineation is fairly revealing, and black levels (aside from a few problematic nighttime sequences) are deep and noise free. I did notice a bit of faint banding and minor artifacting in a handful of scenes, but they weren't incessant or distracting enough to spoil the presentation. All things considered, Sandler fans (particularly those who compare this new Blu-ray edition to its muddy standard DVD counterpart) will be pleased with Disney's efforts.
While Disney has produced a solid DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track for The Waterboy's first high definition outing, the mix simply doesn't offer the inescapable immersion or booming power associated with the most memorable lossless audio tracks. Not only is LFE output a bit tame (especially considering the supposed impact of Bobby's tackles), the rear speakers struggle to bring the Louisiana swamps and crowded football stadiums to life. Without any hard-hitting weight or legitimate presence to speak of, the track has the distinct ring of a front-heavy catalog comedy. While I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the original sound designers -- who seem to have taken the two-dimensional nature of the film's comedy to heart -- some additional oomph and ambient complexity would have gone a long way. That being said, the ambience on hand is crisp and clean, dialogue is bright and intelligible, and interior acoustics (while stagey) are convincing. More importantly, the second and third act football games are far more involving than I expected after trudging through the first half hour of the film, and the climactic clash of the titans provides a rousing end to an otherwise average experience.
Taken on its own terms, Disney's DTS-HD Master Audio track doesn't suffer from any glaring technical deficiencies. In that regard, it should appease fans of the film and give DVD owners another excuse to toss their old disc in the trash.
Even if The Waterboy appeals to your comedic sensibilities, its Blu-ray debut may not. With a somewhat problematic video transfer, an underwhelming DTS-HD Master Audio track, and zero special features, there isn't much to justify the disc's rather high price point. Granted, DVD owners with plenty of cash to spare will relish the various improvements offered by the upgraded AV presentation, but everyone else will probably want to wait for this one to go on sale.
In an early announcement to retailers, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has revealed that they will bring 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' to Blu-ray on June 23rd, day-and-date with the DVD release, followed by Adam Sandler's 'The Waterboy' on July 28th and ...
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