Back To School
One of the best things about college is that it's the first taste of freedom and adulthood that allows us to engage in the debauchery that makes college so great and keeps this website running. Most of us would consider having one of our parents attend school with us to be a bit of a damper on the social life. What if, however, your dad became the campus party animal? This is the idea presented in the 1986 classic comedy Back To School.
Thorton Melon (Rodney Dangerfield) is a successful, self-made millionaire who has built his chain of Big And Fat clothing stores into a business empire despite the lack of a formal education. After the breakup of his second marriage he decides to head up to his son's college to tell him the good news. Once there he quickly discovers that his son, Jason (Keith Gordon), has lied about being on the school's diving team and in a fraternity. Jason confides in his dad that he is having problems in school, both socially and academically, and is on the verge of dropping out. After Thorton preaches the value of an education, Jason replies that it's easy for him to say that because he never had to do it. To motivate his son, Thorton decides to enroll in the same university.
After buying his way into the school Thorton quickly establishes himself as the campus wildman by throwing the rowdiest parties, and raising hell. Studying? That's no problem. Thorton simply hires NASA for his astronomy reports and Kurt Vonnegurt to write his essay on Kurt Vonnegurt (with a cameo by Vonnegurt, himself). Thorton's carefree attitude to education brings him into conflict with Jason, who actually wants to learn the material ("Kids, they always want to do things the hard way") and the uptight, pretentious Dr. Phillip Barbay, the School of Business Dean. Ultimately, Thorton must pass a test or be kicked out for plagarism and academic misconduct.
Rodney Dangerfield is hilarious playing the same rich, obnoxious regular-guy character that he also played in Caddyshack. This is not surprising considering that Dangerfield wrote most of the movie's script. Although it sometimes comes across as a Dangerfield standup routine it's very funny nonetheless, with a constant flow of great one-liners. Among the more memorable lines are:
(While confronting his son) "Why did you lie to me, Jason? You don't lie to me ... you lie to girls."
(Talking about his ex-wife) "Vanessa, she gave great headache." and "She was a water sign, I was an earth sign. Together we made mud."
Besides the great writing, there are also a number of unforgettable scenes. Among them is the classroom scene in which Thorton tactlessly points out the vast differences between the real world of business and the theoretical nature of business presented by Dr. Barbay. The movie also features one of the greatest party scenes ever complete with a hot tub and the band Oingo Boingo.
It's definitely apparent that this movie was made in the 1980s. The clothes, hair and music all reek of '80s cheese. The highlight/lowlight, depending on your opinion, is the moldy remake of the Beatles song "Twist and Shout" with Dangerfield at the vocals.
My only other complaint for this movie is Thorton's son, Jason. He is kind of irritating as the idealistic student who contrasts Thorton's wildness. O.K., I can see his point about not wanting to have NASA write his astronomy paper, but at least use them as a resource. Talk to them instead of plodding through all of the textbooks. Also, what kind of a loser is this kid if he can't even get into the fraternities? Some of the shrubs in the fraternity system at my university made Booger from Revenge Of The Nerds look like James Bond.
Overall, Back To School is one of the funniest college movies ever made. Despite the numerous loopholes in the plot, the constant barrage of one-liners and sidesplitting scenes make this movie well worth the rental.
Send any comments/ feedback to the author.
The number of bar and party scenes along with the quick one-liners should inspire you to drain the keg.
Sure, Rodney Dangerfield is a dirty old man, but he's a funny one. The romantic subplots are kind of lame, but Rodney gives new meaning to "marine biology."
Buy this film from Amazon.com
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