Billy Madison

I just read a review by someone that called this movie offensive and disgusting. She also listed all the groups of people that it offends. More on that later.

This is the story of Billy Madison, a twenty-something man that is essentially an idiot because his wealthy father shielded him from failure as a kid. His father bought him good grades and so Billy never learned. He now spends his days in a drunken stupor with his two best friends. Billy's father announces that he will be retiring and because his son lacks the mental maturity to run a business that he will be turning over control to Eric, one of the upper management employees. Eric is kind of a douche and Billy is upset at his father's lack of faith in him. So Billy re-enrolls in elementary school to prove to his father that he can pass each grade, through high school. He is given two weeks to complete each grade. Eric launches a plan to see Billy fail.

This movie is hilarious, though it does scrape very low on the bottom of the maturity meter. The acting by Mr. Sandler is also not the best as this is his first staring role. It even has some heart warming moments. As I say all the time in my reviews, know what you are getting into before watching a movie and then leaving a bad review. If you are looking for a movie with deep meaning and Oscar worthy performances, then avoid anything by Adam Sandler. If you are under thirty and offended by the world, you too should not watch these movies.

To the person who wrote the review I mentioned at the onset of mine; you said this movie was offensive to teachers. It is a well known fact that Adam's mom was a teacher and this is her favorite of all his movies. Stop taking life so seriously and stop getting offended, Life is too short.

What can I possibly say? This is no "Citizen Kane," but this is one of the movies that sticks out in my mind the most. It's a twisted, crude, tasteless comedy but never ceases to bring out extreme laughter, even after I've seen it approximately 200 times--give or take. I just cannot get tired of this movie! There are things in this movie that cannot be understood, like every Sandler flick. What the hell was the deal with the penguin? However, it's a memorable moment. There are so many memorable quotes from the film. It's one of those movies I can quote line per line off the top of my head.

Here's a share of my favorite quotes:

(singing) "Suntan lotion is good for me. You protect me. Tee-hee-hee."

"O'Doyle rules!"

"It's too damn hot for a penguin to be just walkin' around. I gotta send him back to the South Pole."

"You're giving the company to Eric? He is a bad, bad man."

Adam Sandler has that brand of comic genius in which you don't know what you're laughing at, but it's damn funny! You can't help it! I can't rant and rave about anything artistically brilliant about "Billy Madison." Yet it's one of my favorite movies of all time.

It's funny, it's original, it's Sandler! Nuff said.

My score: 8 (out of 10)

This is one of those lucky cases where the opening sequence of a movie gives you an excellent idea of what you are in for.

If you do not enjoy Billy's sunblock song, or the bit with the penguin, then you must turn off the movie and stop being such a nag about it.

But for those of us who happen to enjoy movies that are silly and stupid, this is one of the best ones out there.