BILLY MADISON
A film review by Chad Polenz
Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz
*** (out of 4 = good) 1995, PG-13, 90 minutes [1 hour, 30 minutes] [comedy] starring: Adam Sandler (Billy Madison), Bridgette Wilson (Miss Veronica Vaughn), Bradley Whitford (Eric), Darren McGavin (Mr. Madison), written by Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler, produced by Robert Simonds, directed by Tamra Davis.
Sometimes things come along that are so insanely stupid they border on sheer genius. "Billy Madison" is an example of this. It is both a cliche and original comedy, full of wacky jokes and total idiocy, but for some reason it works well. So well in fact, we actual laugh along with the film rather than at it, and that's what makes for good comedy.
Adam Sandler stars as idiot manchild Billy Madison, the son of a billionaire who owns a chain of hotels. All he does is hang around his mansion, drinking and going nuts with his two other idiot friends. Billy acts like he's seven years old and it's hilarious to watch him be so stupid. For example, he gets so excited when he realizes it's "nudie magazine day" and Sandler's baby talk is hilarious.
But the attitude doesn't stop there. Even his magazines are wacky: "She-Male Fiesta," "Women Over 80," and "Drunk Chicks." Another funny scene involves Billy and the boys playing practical jokes on people, and their victims are even bigger idiots than they are. No, this is not the most believable story in the world, but it certainly is fun to watch.
Then the movie has to go normal by bringing in a plot. Mr. Madison (McGavin) knows Billy is a blithering idiot and he always wanted to hand the Madison Hotel Company over to him when he retires, but how can he give it to such a moron? When he tells Billy this, they make a deal: if he can pass grades 1 - 12 all over again in 24 weeks, he'll be qualified to take over the company, otherwise Eric (Whitford), Madison's snotty second in command, will get it. Eric is the standard comedy villain, his arrogance and vileness are obviously exaggerated, but so is everything else, so nothing seems too zany here.
And so Billy ventures off to school and the real hilarity ensues. The style isn't so much "fish-out-of-water" as it is just watching an idiot be an idiot. Even the teachers are portrayed as very kooky. All of this absurdity adds up and is funny and likable even though it shouldn't be.
Of course there has to be the sexy-woman-who-won't-give-the-main-character-the-time-of-day, and that character is Billy's third grade teacher Miss Veronica Vaughn (Wilson). Is it necessary to mention what will happen between her and Billy? Another generic comedy element unfolds when Eric somehow gets to the hero by blackmailing his principal.
To settle everything once and for all, Billy challenges Eric to an "Academic Decathlon" in which they will battle for the company - guess who wins?
"Billy Madison" is thin on plot, but big on laughter. It's pathetic humor in a way, but it's funny, and I can respect that.
visit Chad'z Movie Page @ http://members.aol.com/ChadPolenz/index.html
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews