“I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.” —Principal
Today’s quick review: Billy Madison. Billy Madison (Adam Sandler), the idiot son of a hotel tycoon (Darren McGavin), is shocked when his father says he will retire and leave his company to Eric Gordon (Bradley Whitford), a scheming vice-president. To prove he has what it takes to lead the company, Billy re-enrolls in grade school and tries to graduate in six months with the help of a beautiful third grade teacher (Bridgette Wilson).
Billy Madison is a comedy about an unintelligent man who goes back to school to win a bet with his father. Adam Sandler stars as Billy, who spends his days living off his father’s wealth and never applying himself. Returning to first grade, Billy makes new friends, revisits old schoolwork, and learns to do something with his life. Billy Madison scores a few hits with its humor, but its story and comedy may skew too low-brow for some viewers.
Billy Madison has two main sources of gags: Billy’s immature and the incongruity of a grown man going through grade school. The upshot is that this lets the movie experiment with a lot of ideas, some of which work out. Billy pulls pranks, flirts with teachers and parents, and competes aggressively with children a fraction of his age. The downside is that many of the jokes come across as crude, miscalibrated, or simply forced.
Nearly everything about Billy Madison is hit-or-miss. Billy’s behavior is loud and grating, the plot is contrived, and the school humor consists of taking ordinary situations and making them absurd or uncomfortable. But for the right viewer, Billy Madison will be just the right kind of ridiculous. Give it a shot if you are a fan of Adam Sandler’s style of raucous humor. Skip it if you are searching for something refined.
For an Adam Sandler comedy with a similar sense of humor, try Hubie Halloween. For another Adam Sandler comedy about an ordinary man fighting for a hotel chain, try Bedtime Stories. For a more thoughtful comedy about a mentally challenged man thrust out into the world, try Being There or Forrest Gump. For a comedy that operates on similar rules and has more flair, try Zoolander.
[6.4 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112508/). I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for uneven humor that sometimes hits the mark.