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Back to School Reviews
Hilarious movie from one of the greatest stand up comedians in history!
Rodney Dangerfield, Sam Kinison , an early Robert Downey Jr. hurt what more could you want. A perfectly fine popcorn comedies from the 80s.
Back to School Rodney Dangerfield is a comedy great who is known to spit as many clever barbs against others as he does to himself. Who is a more perfect guy to take intellectuals in their ivory tower down a peg? The overall storyline is touching, it reminds us how important parental influence can be, and how sometimes your children can switch the roles on you when you need it. Other than that, if you're a fan of Rodney's one-liner-machine-gunnery, imagine if you got to experience it at a college-party, or at Economics class where he tells an obnoxious professor(Dr. Barbay) a thing or two about business! Anyone who snubs this film for lack of story complexity and consummate acting is probably as fun at a party as Dr. Barbay!
The late Rodney Dangerfield, Sally Kellerman, and a young Robert Downey, Jr. Back in 1940 Thornton missed his chance to go college His father said it doesn't matter how rich or successful a man is, if he doesn't have an education he's got no room for anything else Cut to present day Thornton is now a successful founder of his own clothing empire His son Jason announces he is going to college but this puts off Thornton His wife being very materialistic and unfaithful has him wake up Since he himself never went to college he decided to enroll himself despite him being middle aged Thornton knows all the right people and throws the best parties but is it enough to graduate with honors? Jason also feels like a failure since he's made no friends, the swim coach dismissed him, and he's failing every course Being miserable is the only thing he knows but thanks to his father believing in him he might have the courage and confidence to try not to mention finally approach Valerie, a woman he's been in love with since he enrolled It's never too late to learn young or old, you can be whatever you want to be, education isn't bad since it'll get you far even if you don't have much faith in yourself, college isn't just a dream world to pass the time until you step into the real world Dangerfield still has that comedic timing and he doesn't feel out of place here given the hilarious premise It's quite charming to see the late actor do a screwball comedy mixing age and school Keith Gordon as Jason is also pretty good as the son, he's got real feelings and dreams that seem unattainable and he looks out for his dad as his dad does look out for him At times it's hard to tell who's the parent and who's the kid at heart This would be done again later in An Extremely Goofy Movie with the same premise but here this 1980s comedy does it just right Has a great mixture of laughs and heart to make this premise gel Dangerfield's punchlines keep the storyline interesting with lots of his funny bits
I always wondered if William Atherton and Billy Zapka had a support group. They're great actors, but they seemed to excel at one role: being the absolute biggest jerks possible. I'd love to see a movie where they were in community service together, trying to right their wrongs, but slowly seething that society is throwing trash at them when they're trying to clean a highway, knowing that they're going to eventually become bullies again, but this time in the service of good. Their case worker? Ron Silver. Anyways, Back to School was dedicated to Estelle Endler, Rodney Dangerfield's longtime manager who guided him in his second time as a stand-up and got him into movies, where he'd find the kind of eternal life that he never could have dreamed of in his youth. To say Rodney had a hard life was life saying he told jokes. So many of them — "I was so ugly my parents had to hang a pork chop around my neck to get the dog to play with me." — come from the pain he felt as an abandoned child. Born Jacob Rodney Cohen, he claimed that his mother never kissed, hugged or showed any sign of affection toward him; he was also molested by a neighbor. He legally changed his name to Jack Roy at the age of 19, following the father who left him behind by taking his name and telling jokes and working as a singing waiter in the Catskills. After he was fired, he went into selling aluminum siding. When he went back into comedy in the 60s, he was in deep debt and couldn't get booked. That's when he realized he'd need a hook. His new name Rodney Dangerfield came from a Jack Benny routine — indeed, Benny even visited him once backstage and complimented him on his act — and came from a place he understood very well: he got no respect. In just a few years, he'd headline Vegas and own his own club, a place where young comedians came to get a break. Rodney never forgot what it was like to struggle and gave so many young performers their start. He also kept struggling mentally throughout his life, using marijuana to self-medicate. Unlike his stand-up persona and maybe even the real Jacob/Jack/Rodney, his film characters in movies like Caddyshack and Easy Money were portrayed as successful, happy and popular men. However, they had gone from nothing to something all on their own, thereby becoming the enemy of the ruling rich. They may have money, but Rodney's characters would never truly be part of the 1%. Yet despite their success, the club of Hollywood kept him at arm's length. Dangerfield was rejected for membership in the Motion Picture Academy in 1995 by the head of the Academy's Actors Section, Roddy McDowall. His fans protested and the Academy reconsidered, but Dangerfield then refused their membership. Actually, those fans were really important to him. He was the first celebrity to operate a website and he'd often directly e-mail the fans who visited the site, which had to be a huge surprise. Rodney used to say, "I tell ya I get no respect from anyone. I bought a cemetery plot. The guy said, "There goes the neighborhood!"" That phrase is emblazoned on his tombstone. Man, I get teared up even thinking about Rodney, because while I never met the man, he meant so much to me and my family. I'd get the opportunity to stay up late if we knew he was on Carson and I can still recall a riotous screening of Easy Money where the film was barely audible from all the laughing from my father and uncle. Anyways — Back to School is the big starring role from Rodney, the chance to shine on his own. He plays yet another of his regular guys made good, Thornton Melon. His plus-size clothing stores have made him rich, yet he can't connect with his son Jason (Keith Gordon). After leaving his newest wife (Adrienne Barbeau), he goes, well, Back to School to be part of his son's life. But he does it as only a rich man can, taking over most of the campus and living it up while his son pretty much is embarrassed. This film completely understands the pure comic formula: set up a simple premise and allow hijinks to ensue. To wit: A rich regular guy goes back to school and hijinks ensue. Those hijinks include Burt Young as Rodney's tough butler and best friend, Robert Downey Jr. as his son's punk roommate, Kurt Vonnegut as a guest speaker hired by Rodney, a romance with Sally Kellerman*, a memorable Sam Kinison cameo and the aforementioned Zapka being, well, Billy Zapka. And oh yeah, the Triple Lindy. This film is pretty autobiographical in parts, as Rodney was a diver and truck driver in his youth. I've always loved its message that he may have changed with wealth, but he's remained a kind-hearted man throughout it all. Harold Ramis was one of the co-writers and his comedic sensibilities really help the picture. For metal fans, you can hear Michael Bolton's pre-crooner metal song "Everybody's Crazy" during a party scene, and the Alice Cooper song "The Great American Success Story" was intended to be in this film. It appears on Constrictor and features the lyrics "Back to school, he's gonna take that plunge." We all need more Rodney in our lives. *She lives in Tommy Doyle's house from Halloween. Seriously.
I just finished this movie with my dad. This is one of the best and most hilarious movies I have ever seen. It was so funny and so well made. One of my new personal favorites.
If you're a fan of Rodney Dangerfield's style of humor, you'll probably like Back to School. For me, it felt like they created a middling father-son story and mixed it with a predictable college comedy just so Dangerfield could do some lukewarm comedy bits. It's amusing at times, but I just can't understand why this was the sixth highest-grossing movie of 1986. How did this beat Ferris Bueller at the box office?
I can't understand why this movie has such good ratings. I didn't need to watch the whole movie to realize that it was a B movie, with a weak story, poor writing (comedy was immature and not even funny). The Melon character was also kind of lame. Was cool to see Billy Zabka and Robert Downey Jr in their early years but overall movie just didn't vibe with me so it's a miss.
Rodney at his finest with all the classic comedic actors playing their roles. Only negative is the costar
Hilarious movie staring the equally hilarious Rodney Dangerfield as wealthy Thornton Mellon, who decides to join his son in college. Great cast, including Robert Downey Jr, Sally Kellerman, Sam Kinison and Ned Beaty. Saw this my senior year of high school and believe me, my college experience was nothing like this! Too bad.... =)
One of my favorite films of all time. Never gets old.
The fact that, even after this masterclass in bug-eyed comedy, Rodney Dangerfield only earned an honorary doctorate after he was six feet under goes to show that he really got no respect, no respect at all, I tell ya.
Rodney Dangerfield can always elevate the most hackneyed plots for me and doesn't fail in this Rogue's Gallery of 80s supporting stars such as Zabka, Downey Jr., M. Emmet Walsh, Kinison, and Burt Young. Just casually reference the triple Lindy and you'll quickly see who in a room has seen Back to School.
Rodney is great but the movie is weak. Doesn't hold up at all.
Very funny and made me laugh. Was a great way to pass the time. Also RDJ's character wears the weirdest things which is also funny.
I've seen this movie at least 100 times over the years! I'm a GenX'r so this is a classic for me! Love it, good laugh, good time, every time!
I wish I had a rich, cool dad like Rodney Dangerfield