After the highly successful romantic comedy The Wedding Singer, it appeared that Adam Sandler had reached a new level of maturity and subtlety in his comedic acting. The former "Saturday Night Live" cast member seemed to put away his old repertoire of invisible penguins, fist-fights with Bob Barker and Lunch Lady Land in exchange for a sensitively humorous side, winning the "Best Kiss" with Drew Barrymore at the MTV Awards. This time, uniting with The Wedding Singer director Frank Coraci, the childish, rambunctiously funny Sandler has returned to the silver screen with his usual flair for the idiotic in The Waterboy, an entertaining film that shamelessly milks every ounce of laughter out of a few simple concepts.

If you've seen Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore and the recurring "S.N.L." skit "Canteen Boy," then you can piece together Sandler's stupid, H2O obsessed, bayou-bred mama's boy Bobby Bouchet. Bobby has been relentlessly tormented all of his life by the University of Lousiana football players to whom he unwaveringly delivers "cold, clear, liquid goodness." In the opening scene, Bobby demonstrates his occupational dedication by distilling and purifying every drop of water, which he distributes to the players with a contraption reminiscent of the Ghostbusters' particle-beam backpacks. The waterboy is fired after Coach Red (Jerry Reed) decides that the players are excessively distracted by his innocent, aqueous ambition. Bobby returns home for condolence from his mother (Kathy Bates, who seems stuck between her roles in Misery and Titanic). At this point, the endless volley of "bayou" jokes begins, ranging from a dinner of medium rare python to a disproportionate propensity for missing teeth. At first, these are gross and funny, but eventually become just gross. Amazingly, Bates and Sandler manage to keep the unoriginal material quite hilarious; but even Sandler's comedic appeal cannot sustain the mindless Foxworthy humor. Fortunately, he does get some help from Fairuza Balk as Bobby's horny, buck-toothed and violent, but nonetheless sweet, ex-convict girlfriend. She demonstrates her love for Bobby by redesigning his riding lawnmower into a high-speed vehicle, romantically stealing Lawrence Taylor's Corvette and seductively gnawing on barbecued squirrel.

Soon, Bobby is back on the sidelines as the waterboy of the worst team in college football history, the Mud Hens, with a record fifty-one consecutive loses. The bumbling leader of this pathetic team is Coach Klein (Henry Winkler), who immediately befriends the confused Bobby. Once again, Bobby finds himself taunted and harrassed by the cruel athletes, but this time Coach Klein suggests that he should fight back. And does he ever. The years of repressed anger rush to the surface, as Bobby visualizes all those people that have hurt him in the past. The result is a leaping, bone-crushing tackle of his tormentor that makes William "The Refrigerator" Perry look like the Maytag refrigerator man. Coach Klein, sensing the geyser of anger that he could harness, offers the waterboy a position on the team. Unfortunately, Bobby has to hide his moonlighting as a linebacker and college student from his disapproving, overprotective mother. Bobby quickly learns techniques of inner visualization to invoke his repressed aggression, which means trouble for the world outside the football field. In one of the funniest scenes, Bobby, now in college on scholarship, tackles his professor, a hilarious academic look-alike of Colonel Sanders of "Kentucky Fried Chicken" fame, for insulting his mother. At times,The Waterboy seems to be a vicious Forrest Gump antithesis, quoting directly the famous prefatory phrase "My momma always say...," clinched with bayou-stupidity rather than innocent, simple wisdom.

The ensuing display of crushing and creativetackles on the football field never ceases to loseits comedic touch. Bobby draws some of his movesfrom his favorite sport, professional wrestling.Even after the opponent has scored a touchdown,Bobby rushes into the end zone with a powerfulflying kick to the chest, or administering a bodyslam on a seven-foot linebacker. Adam Sandler isthe ultimate under-dog and plays the role toperfection, winning the support of the localLouisiana community. The Mud Hens soon findthemselves in the Bourbon Bowl against Bobby's oldemployers, Coach Red and the University ofLouisiana football team.

Unfortunately, the ridiculous, adolescent humorthat makes the first two-thirds of the moviehilarious succumbs to moments so predictable andcliched that they make Air Bud looksuspenseful. In fact, the final third of TheWaterboy resembles Air Bud in onestriking similarity: the football team isdiscouraged and defeated in the first half withoutits star player, but rejoices when the slobbering,poodle-brained hero prances onto the field. Thebest part of the final scenes is the presence ofRob Schneider as a dirty, smelly and perverteddrunk that squeezes riotous laughter out of therepeated phrase "You can do it!"

Otherwise, the ending sprinkles brief momentsof slight chuckles over its teary-eyed,underdog-comes-out-on-top denouement.

The Waterboy is definitely worth seeingfor quite a few cheap, mindless laughs. Sandleris at peak form, creating an outlandishlyridiculous, idiotic and character that capturesyour sympathy and your laughter. The plot is weakand often hackneyed, but Sandler's hilariousphysical comedy is reminiscent of the great JerryLewis. So go see The Waterboy if youcackled wildly at the immature, adolescent humorof Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore,but not if you desire the cozy, sweet, romanticcomedy of The Wedding Singer. Maybe"Canteen Boy" doesn't have a sensitive side afterall