Billy Madison Review

Sentinel online now loading the geek cast radio

network of podcasts Adam Sandler. Now you're

all in big, big trouble. Billy Madison. You want

some more of that? I didn't think so! Great PG

-13. Hello and welcome to the 61st episode of

the M -Wire Movie Week in Review. Today we will

be starting the Sandler Spotlight Part 1. I am

your host, GFG1Mike, and as usual I'm joined

by Steve Megatron. Hello, sir. Hello, hello.

How are you? Little tired. Yeah, what's been

going on with you? I'm recording random stuff

Dog somehow injured herself and Not really much

else Aha hmm interesting we actually oh Come

on iTunes give me a friggin break Sorry folks

what I was going to say was we actually have

a peer review on iTunes here, but I can't seem

to get it pulled up For some stupid reason pissing

me off here we go wire Sorry for the delay But

yes, we have our first review by atomic underscore

dog go for was left on August 23rd of this year

great podcast M wire is a great podcast examining

movies from yesteryear and being totally honest

there with their thoughts and what they're reviewing

if only Roger or if he means only have Cisco

and Ebert or As funny as these guys, I would

have watched that show and then listened to this

podcast. I highly recommend this podcast. It's

a must have when you're on the road or avoiding

drama at the workplace. Get it. So thank you

very much Atomic Dog. We appreciate the feedback.

This is the first iTunes review that we've ever

had for this podcast. Yes. And it's good at that.

Yes. Surprisingly But yeah, it was very very

cool of that person to leave the feedback there

I Guess we're just gonna get right into the Sandler

spotlight I guess I'll go ahead and say that

Episode 61 through 66 were originally going to

be the Superman spotlight with episode sixty

-six was going to be uh... superman returns because

that movie is the devil i think uh... to quote

mama from waterboy but uh... unfortunately much

like the superman franchise being cursed our

spotlight on superman is also cursed and we've

had to push it back so we are putting uh... over

the next six episodes we're going to do we originally

had i think what was it like ten of his ten of

adams sandwich films or twelve i don't know there's

like ten or twelve of his films that we had listed

on the schedule as one giant spotlight so i didn't

have to move around the other stuff that we were

going to do at certain episode points i went

ahead and split up the sandwich spotlight and

we're going to start with billy madison Which

is a 1995 comedy film starring Adam Sandler in

the title role about a slacker who must go back

to school in order to take over his father's

company. The comedy also features Bradley Whitford,

Josh Mostel, Bridget Wilson, Chris Farley, Norm

MacDonald, Steve Buscemi, and Darren McGavin.

It was written by Sandler and Tim... Hell, huh,

I don't know how to s - Yeah, there you go, and

it was directed by Tamar Davis and produced by

Universal Studios. It made over 25 .5 million

worldwide When did you first see Billy Madison

sir? Um I believe I first saw it on cable probably

15 years ago and maybe I mean it may have been

a little bit later than that but This has always

been one of those funny films that I can pretty

much go back and watch quite often and not get

bored with oh Yeah, just because of the humor

that's involved with this and who's in it Yeah,

and I have to say this starting off that They

had Adam Sandler they had Chris Farley Norm Macdonald

all three were on Saturday Night Live at the

same time Right. Tim Herlihy was a writer on

Saturday Night Live and often did skits with

Sandler and Farley. Mm -hmm. So they'd have like

little, you know, Herlihy things dropped throughout

it, you know, whenever those two were involved.

So it's kind of funny that he wrote their, you

know, the movie with Adam Sandler. Hey, you know

whatever you know the Saturday Night Live has

been a a stepping stone to greatness for a lot

of people Just look at Sandler look at Chevy

Chase look at Dan Aykroyd Look at any of those

got from any of the Saturday Night Live has been

going on since the 1970s you look from then till

now You know you can throw a stone and hit like

ten super celebrities that started on Saturday

Night Live. Oh, yeah. I mean, there's just so

many to name, you know, and obviously we're not

going to do all that, but yeah, this was, I believe

this was Sandler's first, like, big hit film.

And I believe that this is what started his...

This and Happy Gilmore is where he got his start

with Happy Madison Productions, his production

company. Yeah, the first three movies he was

in, he was in Going Overboard. I'm sure he had

other smaller movie roles, like that he wasn't

the role, lead role, and I don't really count

those as his films. Because like there was like

mixed nuts with Steve Martin and he played some

like goofy kid or something in it, but. Yeah.

He, you know, he was the lead role in Going Overboard,

which is an awful movie. This, I would have to

say, is his first hit movie. And then, yes, like

you said, between this one and Happy Gilmore,

neither of which he directed did launch his Happy

Madison productions. Which, you know, it's a

mix of his two best films, so I mean, it's kind

of hilarious there. But yeah, pretty much everything

he's touched. In recent years, give or take a

few, I mean, which I'm sure I'll get into this

later in the spotlight, have it's been hit or

miss on whether they're good. But his early films

are good. Yeah, I think that when we get to that,

it'll probably be part two of the spotlight,

which is further on down the schedule. I think

part one pretty much encompasses the best films

that he's done. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it does

too. I'd have to actually look at the schedule,

but I I do know that This is one of my favorite

films and funny enough my my wife and her family

Love all the Adam Sandler films, so I've become

quite fluent in them over the last Probably yeah

over the last seven years, so I can pretty much

quote parts of this movie. I like some of the

funny jokes that they have running throughout

the entire film, such as his penguin, which,

yes, we'll get into that later. But yeah, this

is one of my favorite Sandler films where he's

getting to play that goofy role that... You wish

you could have done back in the yeah. Oh, yeah

very very much so So I guess really quick getting

into the plot here a 27 year old Billy Madison

played by Adam Sandler has spent his entire life

Reaping the benefits of his father's hotel chain,

and he spends his days drinking with friends

Jack played by Mark and Frank, played by Norm

MacDonald, and creating disturbances across his

father's estate. One day Billy ruins a dinner

meeting between his father, Brian, played by

Darren McGavin, and his associates by acting

obnoxiously. This prompts Brian to lose any remaining

faith in Billy, and he chooses the conniving

Eric Gordon, played by Bradley Whitford, to become

the next chief of the hotel, when Billy protests

that he can be Responsible, Brian reveals that

he secretly bribed all of Billy's school teachers

in order for him to pass. Billy, who despises

Eric, begs his father to reconsider his decision.

The two finally come to a compromise. Billy must

pass elementary, junior high, and high school

on his own within the course of 24 weeks, two

weeks per grade, in order to prove his competence.

Shortly after enrolling in school, Billy becomes

attracted to a third grade teacher named Veronica

Vaughn, played by Bridget Wilson, who initially

is disgusted with Billy and finds his enrollment

to be a distraction for the other students. He

eventually finds himself as one of Vaughn's students

and earns her respect by defending Ernie and

his friend and classmate. Billy becomes popular

among the third graders and begins to miss them

as he advances to her school. So far, I know

there's a lot of jokes in between all this, but

just the whole opening up to the point until

he gets to third grade, what did you think? I

liked that they had Darren McGavin in it. That

was kind of a nice touch. Because he was playing

kind of a... I don't know, this is the second

time I've seen him. I saw him in the Christmas

story first. So every time I see him on screen,

I just think Christmas story. But as for Eric

Gordon, Bradley Whitford, I despise the character

from the moment he stepped foot on the screen.

And it was funny to see that Billy's dad paid

off all his teachers so he could pass, and then

Eric was, of course, he's a little slimy snake

trying to get in for himself so he can get all

the power and whatnot. I can't remember the...

the guy's name in this film, but He's Carl yeah,

that's right. Carl is always nice to Billy, you

know, despite the fact he knew Billy was getting

wasted off his ass Right and you know, I was

like, oh looks like you got some son He says

yeah, he says I fell asleep by the pool and then

Eric's like sure you didn't pass out He's like

shut up, you know Eric's always been a smart

ass with him. So, you know, of course this is

why Billy hates him with a passion The kindergarten

Through second grade Were the classes were quite

retarded He got away with pretty much anything

he wanted as long as he did a little retarded

work that they gave him Yeah Third grade is when

he met Veronica Vaughn Bridget Wilson and You

know, of course he pissed her off quite a few

times, but eventually they took to each other

And funny enough he pretty much shows his humor

to be on par with the third grade class Yeah,

because it's about the only spot he actually

fit in right So, I mean, it's quite funny that,

you know, he gets made fun of, like, when they

made him spell the word on the... What was it?

Razudo? Oh, yeah, yeah. And he didn't spell that

on the chalkboard in cursive, and he couldn't

figure out how to write the Z's, so he just started

writing squiggly lines. Yup. Yeah, that was pretty

funny up to that point. Yeah. Let's see here.

Billy's development and progression alarms Eric,

leading him to take the offensive. While Billy

struggles in high school, he visits Billy's grade

school principal, Max Anderson, played by Josh

Mostell, and threatens to reveal his past as

a professional wrestler, in which he accidentally

caused the death of another man while performing

a stunt. Cool. Oh, okay. Coerced, Max publicly

states that he took bribes from Billy in return

for passing him. The announcement angers Brian,

who chooses to give the hotel chain to Eric.

Billy becomes distraught and reverts to his original

carefree lifestyle. Veronica and the others come

to Billy's aid, convincing him to keep fighting

Eric. He returns to school and begins to study

again. However, Billy realizes that he must reclaim

the hotel chain. His grade school friends visit

Max at his home and convince him to retract his

accusations. With Billy's name cleared, Brian

argues to Eric that Billy deserves another chance,

but Eric disagrees and threatens to file a lawsuit.

Billy challenges Eric to an academic decathlon

that will determine his father's successor. Although

both men excel in different activities, Billy

manages to take a single point lead before the

contest's final event, the Jeopardy! style. Academic

test. Oh man, I love that. Anytime you can incorporate

Jeopardy into something, that's awesome. Oh yeah,

always. The game progresses and Eric is given

the chance to answer and potentially win, however

he is asked to answer a question about business

ethics, which he has no concept of and begins

to break down. Refusing to admit defeat, he brandishes

a gun at Billy, Max... Billy Max, clad in his

wrestling outfit, subdues Eric. The attack fails

to keep Eric down, and he makes a final attempt

to get back at Billy by turning his gun on Veronica.

Suddenly a rifle -wielding madman, Danny McGrath,

played by Steve Buscemi, whom Billy apologized

to earlier in the film for bullying in school,

disables Eric by firing a single shot to his

buttocks. Later at Billy's graduation, he announces

that he will pass the hotel business on to Carl

Alphonse, played by Larry Hanken, his father's

loyal and long -time employee, and will attend

college with hopes of becoming a teacher. Oh

boy. That's scary and there's a whole subplot

that they kind of glossed over and again, it's

wiki people So we're sorry, but we can bring

it up here Chris Farley and this whole fucking

penguin thing. Well Chris Farley started out

as the hairy Sasquatch of a bus driver that He

just he was pissed at everybody just just for

being there And they go to the zoo. Basically

like a, you know, some kind of a little old style

village thing. And they had sacked lunches and

somehow Norm McDonald got, you know, his character

got in there and was eating with the bus driver

all the lunches. Somehow he just he just was

there, you know, you're not supposed to question

it. It's just it's that's how it was Despite

the fact that they would have never allowed him

on the bus right So yeah, they ate all the lunches

and then of course you have where Ernie peas

himself Yeah, and Billy decides to pour water

on his crotch and make it look like he peed himself

too so that he didn't feel as, you know, embarrassed.

Yeah, he was trying to help the kid out. Yeah,

and then every other kid pees their pants and

then to Chris Fireley's dismay as they all walk

back on the bus they all have wet crotches. So

he's got a bus full of urine. But the comment

was, you know, look Ernie peed his pants and

then... Billy's like, I peed my pants, too. It's

the coolest. And then the lady's like, if peeing

your pants is cool, then consider me Miles Davis

and whatever. And they're like, ew. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. This movie was really funny. There's a

lot of funny clips in here. Yeah. I mean, between

Adam Sandler being in the tub and fighting the

shampoo and conditioner together. Yeah, I forgot

about that Him chasing the penguin throughout

the entire film and then somehow Chris Farley

Making love to the you know, yeah at some point

You get the the clown from I think his third

grade party or yeah Falls it's a hemorrhage in

his head. It's bleeding and then you see him

later in the movie during their little musical

stance And the entire song is supposed to be

based around Billy going back to school and giving

it another shot. And it transforms from that

to the very end of the song where they're asking

if anybody has any more gum. Which is odd in

itself. Yeah, among those films It's quite funny.

I think that the jeopardy scene in the end I

think that was kind of a throw into their celebrity

jeopardy. They were starting on Saturday Night

Live Yeah, because I'm pretty sure they just

use the same equipment but uh They had all kinds

of weird category names at the top Which is what

they do in Saturday Night Live's version Yeah

But there's always some you know reference to

somebody being a whore and they of course had

that in here, too so You know it this whole film

Centered around all kinds of random comedy that

ended up leading to a actual final point But

it was so well worth it oh, yeah Because Billy

knows I mean the the whole point of this is is

Sandler's characters development throughout the

entire film I mean he goes from a lazy slacker

to a guy who realizes That you know school is

cool, and he needs to graduate and get a you

know real job Even though he doesn't want to

go into the hotel business like his dad You know

take over that but you know he he finally gets

it that you have to make something yourself And

by the end, you know, he looks up and sees like

the four other wacky categories. And then he

sees the business ethics one. He's like, Ooh,

this is the way I can beat his ass. Cause he

knows that Eric has no ethics whatsoever. Yeah.

He just wants to run the business. He doesn't

necessarily know how to run the business. Yep.

Billy may be a moron in most areas, but he still

knows a thing or two about, you know, Ethics

and oh, yeah, the the Steve Buscemi part where

he was in the film as you know Danny McGrath

Which was quite strange? Well a lot of Steve's

roles Steve's his roles are just freaking random

and It's not even the fact that they're random

and it's not even the fact of his roles in Sandler

movies a lot of his roles in general When he's

playing a character like that are extremely random

and extremely off -the -wall wacky Oh, yeah.

I mean, hell, look at... Well, once we get to

episode 98 of M .Y., just look at Rock Hound.

I mean, you know, from Armageddon. But yeah,

overall, this is a really great movie. Anybody

should have this in their collection. This film

actually, and from this point on, after Adam

Sandler's worked with certain actors and actresses

throughout these films that he's doing, I think

The Wedding Singer was another one he didn't

have under his production. But after he starts

working with people from this film on, you will

see certain people resurface in most of his films.

Like, if you can fit them in there, even for

a bit part, they're in there. Such as, you know,

Steve Buscemi, who appears, like, even in the

latest one, the Grown Ups. He was in that film.

I mean, that's the latest Adam Sandler film.

I mean, he's appeared in a lot of them, just

like the guy that plays the limo driver and the

wedding singer appears in pretty much 98 % of

every Adam Sandler film from then on. Well, I

think I don't know if I saw an interview or heard

an interview with him somewhere. It might have

been on like some TV special or something, or

it might have been one of those HBO first look

things or whatever on one of the films. He had

said that, no, actually it was the 51st date

special features. He said that, you know, Like

working with people that I've worked with before

and any time that I will get a chance to bring

them back I will do so Which I think is you know

a cool thing Yeah, I I like that he keeps bringing

back People into the mix that You know just kind

of mesh really well with his films, you know

and he won Adam himself won Best Comedic Performance

for an MTV Movie Award. No, he was nominated

for Best Comedic Performance for an MTV Movie

Award, so that was kind of cool. The reception.

The film earned four reviews when first being

released. Peter Rayner in the Los Angeles Times

commented, Sandler has a bad habit of thinking

he is funnier than we do. In At the Movie, Cisglen

Ebert gave the film a very bad review, said of

Sandler, not an attractive screen presence. He

might have had a career as a villain or a fall

guy, or the butt of a joke, but as a protagonist,

his problem is he creates the fingernails on

the blackboard. Oh boy. Can Ebert just go jump

off a bridge already? I know. I mean, seriously,

this is getting to be crap with Ebert. He's always

slamming every film that he reviews, or he gives

good ratings to ones that genuinely suck. Suck,

yeah. And, you know, there's very few times that

we actually agree. Yeah, oh yeah. Pompous bastard.

And I just, I can't fathom how You know I could

see for at the time maybe it may have been too

goofy But at the time we had you know Billy Madison

we had ace Ventura We had you know the mask dumb

and dumber we had you know all kinds of crap

like that coming out So I mean it was it was

the dumb comedy era Yeah, so and then You know

Ebert I Know that he's this well renowned Movie

critic But seriously, he needs to just retire

because he inserts foot and mouth quite often

now Yes, he does At the time of this Siskel was

still alive. So rest in peace. Mr. Siskel, but

he had added You don't have a good motivation

for the character's behavior Rotten Tomatoes

reports that based on 34 reviews counted 41 %

of critics gave the film a positive Review despite

being panned by critics in his sold well on VHS

and DVD If you're an Adam Sandler fan you need

to have this Yes, this is one of the few that

that you absolutely must have that That he's

in yeah, and funny enough the O'Doyle's Yeah,

as annoying as they are in this film he brings

them back in a later film which one click oh

That's right. He makes a reference to you know,

cuz he's a grown -up now But he does some of

the same antics that he does in here not quite

to the same degree He's you know, obviously a

grown -up and a professional but um He goes after

You know the O'Doyle's and They happen to be

his neighbors and he says I have a feeling I'm

taking you and your whole family down he says

that you know Billy Madison well, he says it

again and you know and Click and I thought that

was a nice touch to reference a Previous film

and throughout his films. He does quite often

reference like little elements of older films

But they right they went as far as the snotty

redhead kid the whole look and of the old oils

yeah, and he You know being an adult in this

film is able to set up the old oil kid a lot

easier for the fall for being a little shit and

you know click, but you know it's still funny

how he gets him in this and Just I don't know.

It's just funny the dynamics that he throws into

these films after the fact. Oh Yeah, very much

so very very much so So I think we're gonna take

you to some Billy Madison clips and then we will

be back with the outro Stop looking at me, swan!

Oh, my dear Lord! You dare believe me, open shot?

Because I'm gonna hit it every time. You want

some more of that? I don't think so! Slow down.

Ah! Great, I like the porn. Holy jeez. Look at

what we got here. That silly penguin is back

again. The nor -penguin! It's too damn hot for

a penguin to be just walking around here. Hey

Carl, what's up? Nothing much, Billy. I see you

got a little sun today. Oh, yeah, you think so?

I fell asleep by the pool for a few hours. Did

you fall asleep, or did you pass out? Ah -ha

-ha -ha -ha! Shut up! I am the smartest man alive!

Ah -ha -ha -ha! Have some more sloppy news! Ah

-ha -ha -ha! I made an extra sloppy morning!

Ah -ha -ha -ha -ha! Like I'm slimy. Lady, you're

scaring us. You ain't cool unless you pee your

pants. If peeing your pants isn't cool, consider

me Miles Davis. Spanish Armada. Ah, 1588. That

is correct. Who would steal 30 bag lunches? I'll

tell you who took those luncheons. That damn

Sasquatch. Jeez, what's up her butt? What was

that Billy? I said, reading is good! Can we start

the story now? Man, why do I have so many dreams

I can't remember? What's today? October? Hey,

hey, hey! Who rolls? back to school and achieve

victory. No man will take what my father has

built unless that man is me. My Billy, sweet

Billy boy, I knew you would go back. No one can

stop you if you try. Don't I have a nice rack?

Thank you for beating the shit out of me! I see

things so clearly now, I choose my destiny! Oh,

Billy, I knew you had it in ya! We're here to

help you, Billy! Get back in school to stay!

You gotta work real hard and stick it out till

graduation day! Hey, kids, it's me! I bet you

thought that I was dead But when I fell over

I just broke my leg and got a hemorrhage in my

head There are obstacles in the way But together

we shall overcome Cause you can't break a spirit

and you can't kill a dream back and like to thank

atomic dog for leaving us that iTunes review

very cool of him to do so I believe it's a him

I hope yeah I would assume so So, thank you for

joining us here on MWIRE Movie Weekend Review.

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geek cast radio network the voicemail line will

be changing That number is going to be expiring

here soon. So Yeah, if you guys want to send

us voicemails or mp3s, you're gonna have to do

it in mp3 forms Yeah Actually really quick before

I announce the next film that we're gonna be

talking about we're probably gonna be taking

a couple weeks break here on Mwire because I

Have a couple of Adam Sandler's films. I don't

have a lot of them So like unfortunately, and

I know you know go ahead and revoke my geek license

now I don't have a copy of Happy Gilmore Gilmore

at the time so At this present time so yeah,

we're probably gonna take a couple weeks hiatus

so I can grab some of these DVDs off Amazon and

have them here to watch and all that stuff so

we hope you enjoyed this episode of MY and wish

you'll join us next time when we'll be continuing

the Sandler Spotlight Volume 1 with Happy Gilmore.

For now, I am TFG1Mike with Steve Megatron Phillips.

Thank you for listening, until next time. Heavy.