david-sarkies I never realised how great this film actually is, and that even after all these years there are still some absolutely classic laugh out loud moments. Okay, while this film is clearly a product of the eighties, there is a part of it that could literally put it in any time, and in many cases could still be enjoyed in this post modern, overtly sensitive modern age. Sure, there are some aspects of it, such as when he accidentally wonders into the Sorority and into the girl's showers that would probably not go down all that well here, but there is still a lot of charm about this film. It is about a business man named Thornton Melon who made his millions off of selling oversized clothes. He never went to college, and barely finished high school, but he still succeeded. Anyway, he gets rid of his second wife because, well, she was asking for it, and goes to visit his son at college to discover that he wants to drop out. So, to encourage him to slug through to the end he decides to sign up as well and attempt to complete college. There is so much to love about this film, yet there is so much that honestly doesn't make all that much sense as well. Yet that's the beauty of this film and that is that there is a lot that really doesn't make sense. For instance, he is in his first economics class and starts sprouting out his own business experience to challenge the professor's own academic, and somewhat unrealistic, theories. In a way it is clearly poking fun at academia, particularly the disconnect between the real world and the class room. In fact he even points out at the end that it is better to stay in the class room, and in one's parent's house than to deal with the cut throat nature of the real world. However, the idea of a baby boomer coming back to University isn't all that odd these days. I encountered it the first time I was at university, and I encounter it again today. Sure, there is this element of universities only accepting people with a certain grade into their doors, but if there is one thing that Melon has learnt, and that is that there is not necessarily much that a few dollars in the right hand can solve. Yet, what seemed to be quite amusing back then - a nouveux riche guy throwing money around like there is no tomorrow, is something of a concern today. When he throws a few bucks to the cop at the beginning, this simply seems to be Melon just being himself, yet this is nothing short of bribary. As for funding a new business school simply so that he can get into college, well, I'm not sure to what extent it happens, but a part of me isn't all that surprised, particularly with rumours that some universities simply want to attract people from wealthy backgrounds to ensure regular donations. In a way it also seems somewhat ridiculous as to how fast he is actually throwing his money around, but that is the nature of the movie. In reality, anybody that free and easy with their money is generally not going to have all that much money for all that long. Yet, as I mentioned, this is the nature of the character - a free and easy guy that is simply friends with any and everybody. In fact, the people who don't like him tend to be those who are jealous of the fact that he has entered a world where he isn't supposed to be - I guess this is the nature of the conflict that seems to exist between the old and new money. Yet he throws big parties, and even goes as far as bringing in Kurt Vonnegut to write his English Lit paper. Which is another thing that is really interesting - 'who ever wrote that paper on Kurt Vonnegut doesn't know the first this about Kurt Vonnegut'. Well, I guess that is just a barbed point towards modern academia - some of them wouldn't pick up the fact that an author has written an essay on their own book. There is a story I heard where this actually happened, and in a way I'm not surprised. While this film may be a little dated, there is still just a huge amount of charm about it, and it is, surprising, quite funny. In fact some of the lines that Dangerfield comes out with, such as 'how about Fantasy land', are nothing short of brilliant. This is certainly one to get your hands on, even if only once, just to experience one of the hidden gems of the 80s.

Robert J. Maxwell The late Rodney Dangerfield was a stand-up comic full of one liners, a latter day Henny Youngman. ("Take my wife -- please.") He's worked some amusing wisecracks into this movie too.Dangerfield is the wealthy businessman whose son isn't doing well in school, and Dangerfield decides to enroll and help him through. The filming was done at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.It has its amusing moments. When an assignment involves doing an essay on Karl Vonnegut, Dangerfield hires Vonnegut to write the paper for him. But it isn't as keen as it might be, for a couple of reasons.It's not a pure comedy like, oh, "One, Two, Three", "The In Laws", or "The Freshman." The narrative follows the well-worn path of introducing misunderstanding towards the end, followed by a triumphant celebration of the conflict's resolution.That's pretty dreary, and another problem is that Rodney Dangerfield is a stand-up comic, not an actor. He delivers his lines with a high quotient of bluster, as if addressing a night club audience. Whether the lines are supposed to be serious or funny makes no difference.Oddly enough, since it looks like a family movie, Dangerfield comes up with some risqué jokes. In a Jacuzzi with a couple of bimbos he makes a remark about his class in English literature and expresses the hope that they can help him out with his Longfellow.Nobody else puts in a notable performance. How could they? Yet Terry Farrell as the nearly edible girl friend of Dangerfield's son is memorable. She hardly has anything to do, so I wonder why. I'm pondering it, I'm pondering it.

SnoopyStyle Thornton Melon (Rodney Dangerfield) disobeyed his father about school but still became a big rich success as the owner of Big and Tall stores. He can't stand his high maintenance cheating wive. When he visits his son Jason (Keith Gordon), he finds that Jason isn't the big man on campus like he assumed. Jason wants to quit college. Now Thornton must enroll in school to keep Jason from quitting.It's great to see Robert Downey Jr as Jason's wacky manic best friend. Sally Kellerman is Thornton's love interest. Burt Young is Thornton's body man. Terry Farrell is Jason's object of desire. Keith Gordon is great as the lead. Rodney Dangerfield is his lovable self. This movie is driven by his immense charm. There's a lot of it around and that's what saves this movie.

AaronCapenBanner Rodney Dangerfield stars as Thornton Melon, a self-made millionaire whose one big regret in life was that he never went to college. When his son Jason(played by Keith Gordon) says that he wants to drop out of college, his father makes him a deal; if Jason stays enrolled, he'll enroll himself, which starts a comedic chain of events that will change their lives,(and the college!) forever.Reasonably good-natured comedy has Rodney's bright performance and self-mocking routine going for it, and the hilarious scenes with Sam Kinison as a most unorthodox(and angry) history teacher. Other aspects and characters are not so funny or believable, but film's pluses outweigh the negatives in this amusing comedy.