In order to inherit his fed-up father Brian's hotel empire, immature and lazy Billy Madison must repeat grades one through twelve all over again. The further Billy progresses, the harder his... Read allIn order to inherit his fed-up father Brian's hotel empire, immature and lazy Billy Madison must repeat grades one through twelve all over again. The further Billy progresses, the harder his hated rival Eric Gordon tries to stop him.In order to inherit his fed-up father Brian's hotel empire, immature and lazy Billy Madison must repeat grades one through twelve all over again. The further Billy progresses, the harder his hated rival Eric Gordon tries to stop him.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
- Veronica Vaughn
- (as Bridgette Wilson)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
I saw Billy Madison at the theater, a friend and myself and the 8 other guys randomly scattered around the seating area found this to be pretty damn hilarious. I laughed at about 8 different scenes and that is a lot for me for any one movie. I still laugh at a few of the scenes when I see repeats and yes I have it on video.
Those of you who dislike this movie are more than likely too old and stuck on your Bob Hope type era comedians and refuse to admit any others. Sandler isn't the greatest comedian who ever lived but his shtick was fresh and original when this movie came out. I have a video of him back when he did stand up and the guy is brilliant.
Again, people who get easily annoyed and upset with the stupid type humor steer clear of this movie and save yourself the aggravation that these sad negative reviewers subjected themselves to.
This is one of Adam Sandler's first movies, and it's one of his best also. This is a movie that I've seen so many times, but I still enjoy it every time. This is good to watch when you're in a bad mood, or if you're stressed out, because it will perk you up quicker than any coffee you can name. Other movies that put you in a good mood are Happy Gilmore, Beavis and Butthead Do America, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, and Tommy Boy.
Overall, Billy Madison has a somewhat stupid sense of humor, but it does make you laugh, and it's such an entertaining movie. If you haven't seen this yet, see it now and see what all the laughing is about.
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)
We can expect what ensues.
Basically, the film has a decent premise. It may be thrown together a bit sloppy at times, but overall it is good. The thing that is bad about this movie, is the characters, the dialogue, and the film's progress.
There are some laughs in the beginning, but I didn't find the addition of Norm MacDonald very funny, nor did I think it great how the teacher who hates Billy is suddenly, for no reason whatsoever, willing to take off her clothes for him.
There are some great cameos in this movie, especially the always-enjoyable Steve Buscemi. Unfortunately, his short appearance cannot make up for the bad flow, dialogue and character progression in Billy Madison.
Sure, the film has its laugh-out-loud moments, but not enough, and when it all comes down to it, the film has a half-baked, sentimental ending thrown in to enthuse the easily-pleased, and never really focuses on all the laughs it could have achieved throughout its scenes. It seems to take the lowest amount of jokes considering, and look at them as "look how many jokes we have," instead of "look how many more jokes we could have had."
In the end, what could have been an interesting and lively comedy resorts to typical Sandler fare, and nothing more.
My summary: worth seeing, but not great.
2.5/5 stars -
John Ulmer
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDuring the school bus scene, Chris Farley turning bright red in aggravation was improvised, according to Adam Sandler in I Am Chris Farley (2015). Chris, before filming that scene, downed six entire cups of espressos. He would do that in most of his other movies to maintain his trademark manic energy.
- GoofsWhen Billy is dialing the phone to call the guy he picked on in high school, a phone can be heard ringing.
This is part of the song being played.
- Quotes
Principal: Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
- Alternate versionsIn some edited-for-tv versions of the film, during the Jeopardy game at the end of the film, the scene of the host reading the "burning dog poo and the human response" clue has been removed. However, the clue can still be seen on the board in distant shots.
- SoundtracksTelephone Line
Written by Jeff Lynne
Performed by Electric Light Orchestra
Courtesy of Epic Records
by arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Tonto pero no tanto
- Filming locations
- Parkwood Estate, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada(Billy's mansion: exterior, and grounds)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $10,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $25,588,734
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,639,080
- Feb 12, 1995
- Gross worldwide
- $26,488,734
- Runtime1 hour 29 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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