Billy Madison

Billy Madison is a 1995 comedy and is Adam Sandlers first big hit in a feature film. It's about an underachiever who goes back to school grades k-12 on a bet and if he graduates he'll get to take over his father's company upon retirement.

It's a very silly and ridiculous movie, but I've always thought it was quite funny. Sandler amps up the goofiness to the point that you'd think he knew he wasn't going to get another film so he just went all out. The story is decent, the cast is good, and the overall end result is a fun flick that won't win any awards, but will tickle your funny bone for an hour and a half.

If you haven't seen this before and like silly humor, I would recommend checking it out.

Looking at some of the reviews here reinforces the fact that there are certain people that like different types of humor. If stupid humor makes you laugh, this is your comedy. If you like stale British cerebral humor, maybe you should stay far away from this. I'm sure we all have our favorite and unfavorite comedians. I happen to like Sandler because he is immaturely funny. I think Dave Chapelle's show is pretty damn funny too. I never thought Sam Kinison was funny (the screaming is annoying) nor do I care for Chris Tucker.

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.

Out of all of Adam Sandler's comedic efforts, Billy Madison still stands as his most profoundly weird and dare I say, surreal.

Many of Sandler's worst comedies, such as Jack and Jill and Grown Ups are comedies that fail due to how horrifically lazy and uninspired they are. From their premises to their jokes and gags and their overall execution, those movies just have nothing to offer in terms of inspired humor or even just surface-level entertainment. Billy Madison may be absurdly idiotic and juvenile, but the movie isn't lazy or uninspired.

Many of the jokes and gags in this film are supremely strange, such as Billy making a call to an old schoolmate he used to bully and apologizing to him, then later on, that same guy comes back at the end of the film to save Billy from the film's antagonist, Eric, by shooting him in the ass with a sniper rifle. This movie does genuinely feel like an inspired piece of alternative comedy that totally works for me.

And the film manages to avoid what many of the worst Sandler comedies indulge in, which is trying to trick the audience with moments of phony sentimentality as a way to convince them into believing that the film has an emotional core. Billy Madison knows exactly what kind of movie it is and it makes no apologies for how stupid or ridiculous it gets and I both respect and appreciate that.

Billy Madison is a childish, bizarre, and kind of dark comedic film at times which is what makes it unique from most of Sandler's other films. It's an acquired taste for sure, this movie certainly wouldn't turn any Sandler haters into believers. But in comparison to most of Sandler's other comedies, Billy Madison is one that stands out.

"Hey Billy, who would you rather bone, Meg Ryan or Jack Nicholson?"

"Jack Nicholson now, or 1974?"

"'74"

"Meg Ryan."

So there are a lot of bad reviews for this movie and although we don't all have to agree with the same thing, I feel some reviews were made out of spite. Is it a stupid movie? Yes. Is it immature? Yes. Did some of the reviews take this too seriously? Yes. It's a movie about a man-child who goes back to school in the hope of getting grades so he can own and run his fathers business. There is a cast of children. Why did anyone try to take this seriously??? Look it's not the funniest movie ever and it's really silly in places but it's enjoyable and harmless enough. There are some random but funny acts and some strange scenes but all in all it's not that bad. I first watched this 26 years ago and I still giggle at some of the stupidity. Especially a random song.....

This was on TV last night, and I watched it on the strength of the reviews here at imdb.com. I am AMAZED that so many people liked this pustulent, fetid, rancid discharge of a film. Its lack of comedy is only equalled by its immaturity and pointlessness. There is no acting, no humour, and a plot so thin I can only wonder how it survives holding the weight of its own rancid patheticness. I was literally slack jawed with shock at how bad this film is. I was frustrated with sorrow for the people who actually liked this - one reviewer says that he / she was laughing out loud. At what? How films like this ever get released? How Adam Sandler still has a career after this moronic turd of a film? Just awful. Dont say I did not warn you. By the way, this is only the 2nd review I have written on imdb.com. Generally I feel little need to, as previous posters sum up (generally) the pros and cons of a film very well, but I feel in this case, the public should be warned. I cannot BELIEVE there are so many good reviews for this film, and the truth needs to be told. I am actually offended that this rubbish got greenlighted, made and released, where actual (would be) decent films never see production.

Shocking.