Before the movie, and the real reason I went to see it, was the trailer for Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. And yes, that is the name of the film on the trailer.

I was planning on going the 7:30 showing of The Waterboy for the trailer, but my body woke me up at 1:30, so I went to the 3 p.m. showing. I knew how special this advanced screening of the trailer was (in selected theaters across the country) because normally I'm the only person in row four or five in the middle, but there were about eight of us in that area, talking and having a ball. We were all about 20-25 years old and more normal-looking than many detractors would want to think ;)

The guy beside me left work early, behind me was skipping classes at the U. of Georgia, two others skipped classes at Berry College and drove the hour to the theater, etc. You get the idea.

So the trailers start, with a couple of forgettable movies and A Bug's Life, which looks pretty good, then the 20th Century Fox logo. Much of the audience claps, especially when the Lucasfilm logo appears next...

"EVERY GENERATION HAS A LEGEND"....."EVERY JOURNEY HAS A FIRST STEP"....

Wow! This movie is going to be incredible. The CGI (special effects) work is amazing! Liam Neeson looks as if he's going to kick serious butt, Samuel Jackson's bit was a bit hokie, and we didn't see much of Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan, but it looked convincing to me. The city (Coruscant I think) looked fantastic, like an Athens with space ships flying about. Yoda looked a little younger talking to the Jedi council, who is talking about being worried about Annakin's unforseen power with the Force.

Watch for the bad dude named Darth Maul who Neeson is fighting, he's got a cool light-saber that is double-sided.

I can't say enough how the CGI work looks amazing! And one scene in the desert foretells that we should have some great scenes reminiscent of the original that will look majestic on the wide screen.

About 30 of us stayed until after the credits when the trailer was replayed, and one guy asked out loud how many of us came just to see the trailer. Of course everyone raised their hands. I'm betting that another 20 to 30 people who left after the movie didn't realize the trailer re-aired. Their loss...

I am so giddy! May 21 is such a long, long, time in a month far, far away....

Now, on with The Waterboy....

1998, 1 hr 29 min., Rated PG-13 for language and some crude sexual humor. Dir: Frank Coraci. Cast: Adam Sandler (Bobby Boucher), Henry Winkler (Coach Klein), Kathy Bates (Mama Boucher), Fairuza Balk (Vicki Vallencourt), Jerry Reed (Coach Red Beaulieu).

This is a must for any Adam Sandler fan. If you liked Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore or anything of his skits on Saturday Night Live, then you'll love The Waterboy. Forget the critics. They don't know crap about Sandler's loyal followers.

In this one, Sandler is Bobby Boucher, a "water-distribution engineer," a slow-witted man who loves water and wants people to love it as much as he does. He's fired from his long-time job as waterboy at a big-time football power, the University of Louisiana, and transfers to South Central Louisiana State University, home of the Mud Dogs.

Henry Winkler is fun as Coach Klein, a brilliant playcaller who has been experiencing a mental breakdown of epic proportions and needs to read the "Idiot's Guide to Coaching College Football." Until Bobby Boucher, the Mud Dogs have been mired in a 40-game losing streak. Fans have been reduced to those who have one tooth, as cheerleaders and the mascot spend practices and games in a drunken stupor.

Of course, Bobby comes along, learns how to fight back ("So that's what a can of whup-ass feels like") and subsequently averages 15-20 quarterback sacks a game, propelling the team to the Bourbon Bowl with an inevitable, predictable ending. But who cares! It's a lot of fun along the way.

The sounds of the hard hits by Bobby is fantastic, better than most of the real ones on ESPN's SportsCenter every weekend. Speaking of that network, there are numerous cameos by ESPN and ABC broadcasters (the movie was made by Disney), as well as NFL coaches Jimmy Johnson and Bill Cowher and Lawrence Taylor (who gives advice he needs himself, "Don't smoke crack"), and Rob Schneider plays a dirty backwoods farmer who constantly tells Boucher that "you can do it!"

Kathy Bates is a great actress (see Misery), and is hilarious as Bobby's overprotective Mama. Meals at that household include whole alligators, snakes and frogmuffins.

Fairuza Balk plays Vicki Vallencourt, Bobby's bad-influence girlfriend who shows him the finer points of dating. But Mama sees her as a "Godless jezebel." I see her as yummy.

In the end it's a hilarious movie, recommended for any Sandler fan. Really, you'll like it. Even if you hate Sandler, I guarantee you laugh a few times, no matter how hard you try to remain a stick in the mud.