Billy Madison is a movie about a rich guy who is functionally retarded and supposed heir of the incredibly successful Madison Hotels. His dad is looking to retire, but doesn’t feel the company is in good hands with his inept son at the wheel. When he decides to let Billy’s lifelong rival take the helm, Billy quickly develops a plan that would see Billy rightfully getting Madison Hotels if he can successfully retake classes from elementary and high school over something like 8 weeks.
This movie is generally regarded as Adam Sandler’s best [that he wrote/produced]. I believe it was also the first. It certainly follows his SNL dynamic where he comes up with a character that is wildly immature, does a lot of silly things, and doesn’t really develop any sophistication. It’s a good idea once. This is why Billy Madison succeeds where his later efforts simply failed.
The best parts of this movie were the classroom segments. It seems actually kind of interesting to be an adult going through the education system, where those systems are largely unchanged in spite the presence of one. The kids were pretty good, the atmosphere was light-hearted and really helped camouflage the Madison character’s patheticness. This is a good movie to have on in the background while you’re out golfing.
ThomFiles 