Billy Madison (1995)

In order to inherit his fed up father's hotel empire, an immature and lazy man must repeat grades 1-12 all over again.

Director:

Tamra Davis

Writers:

Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler

Stars:

Adam Sandler, Darren McGavin, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adam Sandler	...	Billy Madison
Darren McGavin	...	Brian Madison
Bridgette Wilson-Sampras	...	Veronica Vaughn (as Bridgette Wilson)
Bradley Whitford	...	Eric Gordon
Josh Mostel	...	Principal Max Anderson
Norm MacDonald	...	Frank
Mark Beltzman	...	Jack
Larry Hankin	...	Carl Alphonse
Theresa Merritt	...	Juanita
Dina Platias	...	Miss Lippy
Hrant Alianak	...	Pete
Vincent Marino	...	Cook
Jack Mather	...	Ted 'Old Man' Clemens
Christopher Kelk	...	Rollo the Janitor
Marc Donato	...	Nodding 1st Grader

Storyline

Billy Madison is a 27 year-old man whose father Brian is the head of a major hotel chain. Even though he is groomed to replace his father who is about to retire, Billy is extremely immature and unmotivated in life. When Brian considers making Eric Gordon (whom Billy despises) his new replacement, Billy decides to prove to his father that he is capable of taking over. He must repeat grade school all over again (2 weeks for each grade) in order to take over the hotel empire. The further Billy progresses, the more Eric tries to derail Billy.

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Plot Keywords:

school teacher | hero | heroine | evil man | villain | 

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Taglines:

A comedy about an overwhelming underachiever.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and crude humor

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

10 February 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Billy Madison

Filming Locations:

Northern Secondary School, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,639,080, 12 February 1995

Gross USA:

$25,588,734

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$26,488,734

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Robert Simonds Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the Academic Decathlon, Billy Madison ends his uneducated Industrial Revulotion speech by yelling "Knibb High School Football rules!" which ends an awkward silence and the crowd erupts in cheers. The same thing happens in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) where a high school student (Ox Robbins) ends his uneducated speech with "San Dimas High School Football rules!" also ending an awkward silence and the crowd erupts in cheers.

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Goofs

Carl tells Billy & Veronica that Eric just made threats & made a "weasel laugh". But during the previous scene we hear Eric make the threats, but he never laughs.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Billy Madison: [sings] # Suntan lotion is good for me. / You protect me, hee-hee-hee. #

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Alternate Versions

In 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.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Mole People (1997)

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Soundtracks

Beat On The Brat
Written and Performed by Ramones
Courtesy of Sire Records
by arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

So stupid, but so damned funny!

The great thing about "Billy Madison" is you're not suppose to take it nor judge it too seriously. They knew while making it that it wouldn't be an Oscar winner, nor would it be the next "Citizen Kane", nor is it suppose to be some intriguing and involved plot, but it in return has rightfully earned itself a major cult classic status among youth and film lovers since it's release. It has also become one of the most quoted and memorable films over the past 12 years.

It's about a 27-year-old man who makes a bet with his dad that if he repeats and passes grades 1-12 (Where is K?), he will take over for his dad's hotel company, instead of his dad's obnoxious and sociopathic friend Erik (played to perfection by Bradley Whitford; despite Billy not having any experience in the field at all...). The film from there follows him in each grade.

Does that sound like much of a plot? No. It is inept, idiotic, unrealistic and bizarre, but it is one of the funniest movies ever made. It has endless amounts of memorable gags that will make you laugh over and over again, it has the type of sense of humor that makes you laugh because it is so damned strange and nonsensical. Most of its gags rely on a hybrid of black humor and slapstick that produces hysterical results.

I feel like I'm 10 years old quoting the movie to all of my friends, but it's the type of movie that will make you do that. If you are in the mood for a very good and thought provoking movie, this isn't your movie, but if you are in the mood to laugh your ass off and not pay attention to how good it actually is... here is your movie.

But that aside, "Billy Madison" isn't just awful like many other goofball comedies of the 90's and 00's, it is very entertaining and memorable... because it just manages to really make you laugh. And it's not dumb characters making stupid mistakes (like Black Sheep for example), just very weird characters making "What the hell was that?!" situations.