Billy Madison

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."

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.

Billy is the son of a rich businessman who owns a chain of very successful hotels. Billy lives a lazy live of goofing around and being drunk by the pool before midday. When his father decides to hand the business over to associate Eric Gordon because Billy is too dumb to do it - having only passed his school exams by his father paying his teachers. Billy doesn't want to be cut out so agrees to go through school all over again - doing one grade every two weeks.

Adam Sadler films are very much a matter of taste - if you like him doing his usual `dumb guy who makes good' stuff then you'll be right at home with his early films. I am in two minds about it, his humour is generally very lowbrow but he does have a few funny moments in any film. That is the case here, overall the humour is very childish but it does have an occasional moment that is just so off the wall and out of the blue that they are hilarious. Examples include the blue duck, an invisible penguin, the fight between shampoo & conditioner, the principal who's wife is a slut and a hilarious response to Billy where `wrong' would have sufficed!

Do these few funny moments save the film? No, they make it bearable, else I would have been angry with no laughs - but one every ten minutes make it OK, if not really worth watching. The plot is stupid and the characters are rubbish. I know that these things are not what the film is about, but one has to wonder how stupid the writers think the audience are when they simply switch Veronica from hating Billy to being totally in love with him with no explanation or reason! Of course this is a minor problem - the bigger problem is the fact that the film isn't consistently funny enough to work.

Sadler is his usual self - if you like that you'll like that if not you won't. He has a few good moments but generally his performance is childish and not funny. He has an imagination on him for the weird that happily creates the funny moments but his performance is painful. Worse still is Wilson; she cannot act in anything I've seen and here she must carry some blame for being totally unable to phase her growing affection for Billy - instead it's like she just flicked a switch. The support cast is OK although it's sad to see Whitford slumming it when he is better than this.

Overall this film has enough laugh-out-loud moments that appealed to my sense of humour and made me semi-glad I watched it. However it is a major problem that the film has no plot, characters, logic or consistent laughs. A weak film, albeit a weak film that has a handful of hilarious moments and the odd very imaginative touch!

If you want to see a movie that is fun, puts you in a good mood, and never gets old, then see Billy Madison. All of you Sandler haters will think this is stupid, but everyone who likes Adam Sandler, or doesn't mind humor that is kind of stupid will love Billy Madison.

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.

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.