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“When are you ever going to grow up?”
“Stop being a little boy and act like a teenager”
Did you ever hear these remarks thrown at you as a teen? I did a few times. And it pissed me off because in my eyes, I was always just being myself. Whether it was mature or not, I did act my age and was growing up (despite what my teenager sisters thought at the time). That’s all that any teenage boy does – we act ourselves. And when a movie came along about a 27 year old man still acting like a teenage boy, a whole new generation of immature lads found their role model in Adam Sandler’s “Billy Madison”
I had no idea who this young comedian was prior to seeing this movie the first time. I’m not even sure if it was shown at the movies in Australia, but it was certainly shown on Foxtel (Australia’s cable TV station) many, many times and it was an instant hit with me and my mates. I took pride in introducing other mates to it as well, as not everyone had Foxtel in the early days of its release in Australia. In a way, I was one of the early bootleggers of recording and passing on movies at school, and quickly cemented my place in the year level at high school as “The Movie Guy”. The names Movie Freak or Film Freak came up once or twice, but I quickly corrected those who called me that and calmly said, “I’m a movie buff. There’s a difference!” Anyway, not relevant, back to the review...
Adam Sandler played an assortment of characters during his five year run on SNL (Saturday Night Live) and graduated to movies soon after, specialising in playing goofballs. He went on to build a long career (which sadly now has started to sink) but in the mid to late nineties, he was the King of Comedy, and provided a fresher, younger alternative to the likes of Jim Carrey, Eddie Murphy or even Robin Williams. Sandler appealed directly to the adolescent boy, because he was more or less just an overgrown kid himself. Almost effortlessly, he plays Billy Madison, the son of a rich hotel owner. Billy spends his days lying by the pool, taking bubble baths and chasing imaginary penguins around on a golf cart. He doesn’t have to work, doesn’t want to work and has absolutely zero responsibility whatsoever. The life-long dream of every teenage boy right? But when his father puts his foot down, warning Billy that if he doesn’t get his act together he won’t inherit the family business, Billy will do anything rather than let the hotel chain get handed down to his father’s associate Eric, who’s a total douchebag. So in a desperate last attempt to prove his father wrong and take responsibility, Billy comes up with an idea. Return to the first grade of primary school, and re-do very year level up to 12th grade of high school, take the tests, re-graduate and claim his father’s business. His dad approves and Billy goes back to school.
Now, what adult hasn’t asked themselves “How would I do school differently if I could go back knowing what I know now?” It’s the curse of life that we wish we knew what we know now, when we were younger. So for any adult, returning to school would be a breeze. But Billy has other plans. He doesn’t take his own idea seriously to start off with, rather spends his time trying to make the kids laugh by cracking jokes they don’t get or making fart noises. When he reaches the third grade, his teacher Miss Vaughn is a total hottie, and Billy gets very distracted. Slowly but surely, Billy passes each grade of primary school, and shows he’s on track to achieve his goal and inherit the business. Eric, the douchebag and his dads associate, doesn’t like this and does what he can to sabotage Billy’s success.
Now, what adult hasn’t asked themselves “How would I do school differently if I could go back knowing what I know now?” It’s the curse of life that we wish we knew what we know now, when we were younger. So for any adult, returning to school would be a breeze. But Billy has other plans. He doesn’t take his own idea seriously to start off with, rather spends his time trying to make the kids laugh by cracking jokes they don’t get or making fart noises. When he reaches the third grade, his teacher Miss Vaughn is a total hottie, and Billy gets very distracted. Slowly but surely, Billy passes each grade of primary school, and shows he’s on track to achieve his goal and inherit the business. Eric, the douchebag and his dads associate, doesn’t like this and does what he can to sabotage Billy’s success.
That’s about it in terms of plot, as Billy Madison cruises along for its 90 minute runtime with one series of gross out gags, silly jokes and immature incidents, all spearheaded by the antics of Adam Sandler’s signature style. He could act tough and tender, serious and silly, crazy and charming, or stupid and smart, usually in the one scene and switching from one to the next. Billy Madison was the film that launched Sandler’s career, as he showed he was something of a lost boy in a man’s world, trying to have some fun and not lose his temper at the realities of being a grownup. This style served him well in his next few pictures, such as “Happy Gilmore”, “The Waterboy” and “Big Daddy”, which would raise his career even higher and make him a movie star for simply playing immature idiots. Not a bad way to make a living...
Wherever his career is now is up for debate, but once upon a time he was the idol in every teenage boys mind. He said what he wanted, acted like he felt and always had fun. He didn’t grow up, got away with anything and had his mates along for the ride. He goes back to school and actually has a good time, hits it off with a beautiful teacher, and proves everybody wrong. The loser becomes a winner and earns what he never had – self-respect.
I won’t try and go too deep here, because let’s face it, this is Bully Madison I’m talking about. But the film does have some concurrent themes underneath all it’s silliness and crude jokes. Billy Madison was the boy who became a man but never grew up. That gets lost with a lot of teenage boys as they transition from teens to men, but it’s always inside us. We may not act that way as we get older, but once a bloke is together with just his good mates in a place with no rules, restrictions or responsibilities (like the camping trip I just had haha) then the boy comes out to play. And that’s why Billy Madison earns its place as a movie of my teens, because it helps me and many other grown men who wish they didn’t have to grow up act like young boys again. Now “Stop looking at me Swan!!!!”
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I won’t try and go too deep here, because let’s face it, this is Bully Madison I’m talking about. But the film does have some concurrent themes underneath all it’s silliness and crude jokes. Billy Madison was the boy who became a man but never grew up. That gets lost with a lot of teenage boys as they transition from teens to men, but it’s always inside us. We may not act that way as we get older, but once a bloke is together with just his good mates in a place with no rules, restrictions or responsibilities (like the camping trip I just had haha) then the boy comes out to play. And that’s why Billy Madison earns its place as a movie of my teens, because it helps me and many other grown men who wish they didn’t have to grow up act like young boys again. Now “Stop looking at me Swan!!!!”
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