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

Though he co-wrote the script, Adam Sandler also ad-libbed a lot of his performance. Director Tamara Davis said, "It was important to let Adam be Adam."

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Goofs

When Billy is standing at the bus stop, you can hear the sounds of children on the bus that passes, but there are clearly no passengers on the bus.

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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

The Australian network TV version cuts out the line "You gotta get out there, and find that fuckin' dog!" that Billy says commenting on the book "The Puppy Who Lost His Way" to reduce the M rating to a PG. Cable and Video/DVD versions are unchanged.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Uses of the F-Word in Non R-Rated Movies (2017)

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Soundtracks

News Bites
Written, Performed and Produced by John Joseph Thomas and Thom Brennan
Courtesy of Plethora/Petting Zoo Records

User Reviews

Stop looking at me, Swan!

What can I possibly say? This is no "Citizen Kane," but this is one of the movies that sticks out in my mind the most. It's a twisted, crude, tasteless comedy but never ceases to bring out extreme laughter, even after I've seen it approximately 200 times--give or take. I just cannot get tired of this movie! There are things in this movie that cannot be understood, like every Sandler flick. What the hell was the deal with the penguin? However, it's a memorable moment. There are so many memorable quotes from the film. It's one of those movies I can quote line per line off the top of my head.

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)