Billy Madison

Billy Madison is a 1995 comedy film starring Adam Sandler in the title role about a slacker who must go back to school in order to take over his father's company. The comedy also features Bradley Whitford, Josh Mostel, Bridgette Wilson, Chris Farley, Norm Macdonald, Steve Buscemi and Darren McGavin. It was written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy, directed by Tamra Davis, and produced by Universal Pictures. The MPAA rated the film with an PG-13 for language and crude humor. It made $24 million worldwide.

Plot

27-year-old Billy Madison (Adam Sandler) has spent his entire life reaping the benefits of his father's hotel chain. He spends his days drinking with friends Jack (Mark Beltzman) and Frank (Norm Macdonald), and creating disturbances across his father's estate. One day, Billy ruins a dinner meeting between his father Brian (Darren McGavin) and his associates by acting obnoxiously. This prompts his father to lose faith in his son, and choose the conniving Eric Gordon (Bradley Whitford) to become the next owner of the hotel. Billy despises Eric, but his father reveals that Billy couldn't even pass in school without his teachers being paid off. Billy begs his father to reconsider his decision. The two finally come to compromise; Billy must pass elementary, middle school, and high school on his own within the course of twenty-four weeks (two weeks per grade), in order to prove his competence.

Shortly after enrolling into school, Billy becomes attracted to a teacher named Veronica Vaughn (Bridgette Wilson), who initially attempts to ignore him. Nevertheless Billy successfully progresses through his first two grades. He eventually finds himself as one of Vaughn's students in the third grade. He manages to earn her respect by defending Ernie, his friend and classmate. Billy becomes popular among the third graders, and misses them as he advances through school. Billy's development and progression alarms Eric, who becomes increasingly agitated as Billy completes each grade. Eric takes the offensive while Billy struggles in high school. He visits Billy's grade school principal, Max Anderson (Josh Mostel), and makes numerous references to his controversial past as a professional wrestler that could threaten Max's education career. Coerced, Max publicly states he took bribes from Billy in return for passing Billy to the next grade.

The announcement angers Brian, who chooses to give the hotel chain to Eric. Billy becomes distraught, and reverts to his original care-free lifestyle. Veronica, many school children, and other random characters from previous scenes come to Billy's aid, and forcefully motivate him to keep fighting Eric. He returns to school and begins to study again. However, Billy realizes that he must reclaim the hotel chain. His grade school friends visit Max at his home and convince him to retract his accusations. Brian argues to Eric that Billy deserves another chance, but Eric disagrees and threatens to file a law suit. Billy challenges Eric to an academic decathlon that will determine his father's successor. Although both men excel in different activities, Billy manages to take a single-point lead before the contest's final event, a Jeopardy!-style academic test. Billy attempts to win the contest by answering a question pertaining to the Industrial Revolution. Billy answers the question by presenting an elongated comparison to a children's book that was read to him earlier in the film. The contest's host voices disgust at the answer, telling Billy that "everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it," and awards Billy no points.

Eric is then given the chance to answer a question, and potentially win the contest, however he is ironically asked to answer a question about business ethics. Eric cannot answer the question, and begins to break down. Refusing to admit defeat, he brandishes a gun, but Max, clad in his wrestling outfit, subdues Eric. The attack fails to keep Eric down; he makes a final attempt to get back at Billy by turning his gun on Veronica. Fortunately, rifle-wielding madman Danny McGrath (an uncredited Steve Buscemi), whom Billy apologized to earlier in the film for picking on him in school, disables Eric by firing a single shot into his buttocks. The film then moves to a graduation scene, where Billy is delivering a speech. He decides that he will pass the hotel business on to Carl Alphonse (Larry Hankin), one of his father's more polite businessmen, and announces he will attend college with hopes of becoming a teacher.

Cast

• Adam Sandler as Billy Madison
• Bradley Whitford as Eric Gordon
• Bridgette Wilson as Veronica Vaughn
• Chris Farley (uncredited) as Bus Driver
• Darren McGavin as Brian Madison
• Dina Platias as Miss Lippy
• Garrett Hinchey as Jack
• Hrant Alianak as Pete
• Josh Mostel as Principal Max Anderson
• Larry Hankin as Carl Alphonse
• Norm Macdonald as Frank
• Steve Buscemi (uncredited) as Danny McGrath
• Theresa Merritt as Juanita

Nominations and awards

Nominated

• MTV Movie Award
• Adam Sandler - Best Comedic Performance

References to the film

• Happy Madison, Adam Sandler's film production company, took its title from this film and the following year's Happy Gilmore, also starring Sandler.
• In 2006, a U.S. bankruptcy judge quoted the contest referee in Billy Madison when he dismissed a defendant's motion on the grounds that it was incomprehensible. The smoking Gun
• In I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Adam Sandler is seen reading the children "The Puppy Who Lost His Way," the same story Ms. Lippy read to Billy Madison in the 1st grade
• Issue 118 of Ultimate Spider-Man featured a brief discussion held by Spider-Man, Johnny Storm and Iceman about Billy Madison.
• In the movie, Billy is confronted by a red-headed family of bullies by the name of O'Doyle. In Sandler's movie Click, a bully with the same surname makes an appearance.
• Sandler himself made light of the film's poor reception and sophomoric humor on an episode of Saturday Night Live in his "Opera Man" character. He sings in his trademark opera fashion how Tom Hanks has won back-to-back Oscars and that he is monopolizing the Academy Awards when he sings "take a vacation, go to France. Give someone else a freaking chance!" which then shows a movie poster of Billy Madison, knowing very well it is highly doubtful it would ever be Oscar-worthy.

Reception

The film earned poor reviews when first being released, Peter Rainer of the L.A. Times commented; " Sandler has a bad habit of thinking he is funnier than we do". Rotten Tomatoes reviewers only gave the film a 41%, considering the film "rotten". The RT community has given the film a 67%, considering the film fresh, it has also over the years been described as one of Sandler's best leading roles and his first film that broke him into superstardom, giving the film an extremely strong cult following.

References

External links