“The Waterboy” (1998)
Is “The Waterboy” Adam Sandler’s last good Adam Sandler-made film? With a long, juvenile-even-by-his-standards sludge of movies that followed and soured his reputation (though not his box-office clout), it’s hard to argue this point. Like “Happy Gilmore” and “Billy Madison” before it, “The Waterboy” leverages the idiotically enjoyable side of Adam Sandler movies tapping deeply into the “it’s so ridiculously stupid, it’s funny” vein that served him so well for the first half of his career. “Special Needs” waterboy, simpleton and H2O aficionado Bobby Boucher’s life suddenly changes when he’s fired from his college football waterboy position. But his life is then further transformed when a desperate fellow college football team (led by hilariously meek coach Henry Winkler in an amusingly funny pre-”Arrested Development”-esque performance) discovers that when taunted, Boucher displays a monstrously unstoppable and merciless tackling ability and becomes a member of the team. Sandler’s good comedies are often made by a good supporting cast and ‘The Waterboy” is no different. His excessively sheltering (and hilariously ignorant) mama is played with excellent aplomb by Academy Award winner Kathy Bates, and his delinquent, severely-arrestable girlfriend Vicki Vaillancourt is rendered by a terrifically convincing Fairuza Balk. Set in Louisiana, a lot of backwoods stereotypes are expertly abused by the comedy, including Bates’ ridiculous cooking (fried baby gators, frog burgers etc.) and her belief that pretty much everything she hasn’t taught her son comes from the devil. The random, out of nowhere appearance of Rob Schneider threatens to ruin the movie for a second, (never has a small part screamed, “hey old friend, do you have a bit part I can do on your movie to make some dough?” louder), as does the use of CGI (which would become dangerously more prevalent in later Sandler movies), but this little fairy tale rallies in the last quarter, much like the game, to indulge in some classically enjoyable sports movie endings (cliches be damned). Another familiar Sandler element that’s extremely pronounced is the movie’s soundtrack. Adam Sandler movies are notoriously budgeted way higher than the average, relatively inexpensive-to-shoot comedy. “The Waterboy” has money to spare with a soundtrack that includes every classic Creedence Clearwater Revival track, plus probably not cheap, very well-known songs by The Doors, The Animals, Earth Wind & Fire, John Mellencamp, Rush, The Allman Brothers and many, many more. Kanye West recently referenced “The Waterboy” on Yeezus, illustrating to many why this comedy still holds up today. [B+]
“The Wedding Singer” (1998)
First off, before you scroll to the comment section, we know “The Wedding Singer” is not a Happy Madison production, but we would be remiss not to include it in an Adam Sandler retrospective. One of the first, if not the first, movies set in the ‘80s that wasn’t made in the ‘80s (including nods to the Rubik’s cube and Michael Jackson’s Thriller jacket), “The Wedding Singer” is about a wedding singer (how’s that for a title hitting the nail on the head?) who gets left at the altar and finds friendship and ultimately love with a waitress (Drew Barrymore). Uncharacteristically, “The Wedding Singer” is a delightful and heartfelt romantic comedy with a real spark between Sandler and Barrymore (which they would reignite in “50 First Dates” and are scheduled to do again next summer in “Blended”). One of the better critically-received films of Sandler’s career, the film showed Sandler’s range as a leading man from depressed to hopeful to oh-so-angry with some actual, not meant to be funny singing thrown in. (Offscreen, Barrymore would compare Sandler’s musical ability to that of Bruce Springsteen.) Even so, Sandler fans won’t be disappointed as the film features some frat-level humor (meatballs are involved) and a now-characteristic roster of fun cameos/small roles — Billy Idol, Jon Lovitz, Steve Buscemi, Alexis Arquette… Although we’re hesitant when it comes to the romantic comedy genre in general, especially with Sandler involved, “The Wedding Singer” manages to hit all the right notes with laughs, tears and the urge to sing along, from an anger-filled “Love Stinks” to Jon Lovitz’s cringeworthy “Ladies’ Night” to Billy Idol taking part in one of the best romantic gestures on film. We dare you not to smile at “Grow Old With You.” Fun trivia note, the script included some uncredited work from Sandler, Carrie Fisher and Judd Apatow. Also, you can’t really argue with a soundtrack that includes Billy Idol, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, The B-52s and Flock of Seagulls. [A-]
“Happy Gilmore” (1996)
Having named his production company Happy Madison, an amalgamation of “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore” it’s clear Adam Sandler has a lot of affection for his first two films (others came before it, but these two crystallized his movie career as leading man comedian). And it’s easy to understand why: for years, the two pictures were well-regarded as his best two films. However, like “Billy Madison,” this comedy about an inept, would-be hockey player turned pro golfer hasn’t aged that well. Nonetheless, as dated as it is, it’s still pretty funny and relative to the rest of Sandler’s often dire output, one of his best. Happy Gilmore can’t skate for shit, but his life’s dream is to be a hockey player. The one talent he seems to posses is a ruthless slapshot. An old golf pro (Carl Weathers) tries to convince Gilmore to enter a local national-qualifying tournament, but none of it means anything to the rejected hockey player until his beloved grandmother’s house is seized for evading taxes. With prize money the only salve available to save granny’s house, Gilmore goes into the contests head-on, but soon runs into an arch-nemesis, Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), an arrogant golfer hellbent on winning his first national championship. “Happy Gilmore” has all the gags you’d expect, but it also has an absurdist bent that contains many you’d have never dreamed of moments, including a balls-out fist fight with “The Price Is Right” host Bob Barker. Some of the stranger elements of the movie include appearances by SCTV’s Joe Flaherty, Ben Stiller as a cruel orderly in an old folks home, James Bond villain Jaws (Richard Kiel), some ludicrous daydreaming flashbacks (cue hilariously gross references to KISS), and the most shamefully gratuitous product placement of all time (Subway). “Happy Gilmore” is also notable as the film that introduced Dennis Dugan into the Sandler fold. The actor/director is a veritable workhorse for the Happy Madison stable, having directed nine Adam Sandler movies, plus the Happy Madison production “The Benchwarmers.” No other filmmaker has directed as many Sandler movies and aside from Happy Madison mainstays Frank Coraci and Peter Segal, Dugan is Sandler’s go-to-guy, especially of late (aside from the R-rated “That’s My Boy,” he’s directed every Sandler-starring Happy Madison film since 2007). [B]
