By JENNIFER GIBLIN
Style Editor
 

Sure enough, Sandler's newest film, "The Waterboy," is being denounced by critics. A sports movie in the tradition of "Happy Gilmore," "The Waterboy" chronicles the elevation of 31- year- old Bobby Boucher from ridiculed "water distribution engineer" to celebrated linebacker of the Louisiana Mud Dog's football team.

Bobby, a simple but well- meaning Cajun, lives with his overprotective mama (played by Kathy Bates) in the poor, backward swamps of Jackson County, Louisiana. The film's portrayal of bayou country is a blunt satire and I'm sure it would be pretty offensive to those who live there. Be prepared to see hicks with no teeth and baby alligators being barbecued for dinner.

For eighteen years, Bobby works as a waterboy for top- ranked Louisiana University football team, putting up with insults and abuse from the players and coaches to serve a higher purpose: providing "high quality H20" to those thirsty athletic machines.

Apparently, thirty years ago, Bobby's father died of dehydration while working with the peace corps in the Sahara desert. It is now his mission to ensure that everyone, from the players to the referees are well- supplied with fluids.

When Bobby is fired from LU, he takes an unpaid job with the pathetic Mud Dogs, a team that has a forty- something game losing streak. Once again, the hapless waterboy is endlessly ridiculed and tormented by the football players until the sympathetic Coach Klein (played by Henry Winkler) encourages him to fight back. Pretending that the arrogant quarterback embodies all those who have ridiculed him in the past, Bobby unleashes his pent-up fury and tackles him- so well that the coach wants to put him on the team.

Defying his disapproving mother (who believes that college and "fooseball," among other things, are the devil), Bobby joins the team and quickly becomes a hero.

Not only does he help the team snap their losing streak, but he also breaks the NCAA record for most sacks in a game and becomes a favorite on "Sportscenter."

Let's be honest...the plot is hardly the work of a genius. It is completely predictable right down to Bobby's last half heroics in the Bourbon Bowl on New Year's Day.

Care to guess which team they're playing against? Yep, that's right- LU and it turns out that not only does Bobby have a score to settle with the team, but so does Coach Klein who was poised to become head coach of LU back in the 70s until the current coach stole the position from under him.

Other loose ends are also nicely tied up- Bobby's mother learns to let her son live his own life, Bobby's creepy jailbird girlfriend shows him how much he is loved, and the mean- spirited quarterback realizes what a great guy Bobby really is.

It is the typical happy ending: not only is there a triumphant, come- from- behind victory but there's even a wedding (somehow I really don't think I'm ruining the ending for you...you can pretty much guess it would end this way).

So is the movie worth seeing? Well, if you're not an Adam Sandler fan and you're looking for an original, though- provoking film, skip this one. But if you're looking for a satisfying and funny idiot comedy in typical Sandler fashion, this is definitely one to catch. Judging from the laughter in the theater, Sandler did not disappoint his audience. Who cares what the critics think.