Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

FloodClearwater If it were the mid-1980s, and you were casting a formula-driven, broad-premise comedy film, and you needed two actors to play a tweedy pair of college professors, my God, you couldn't have done better than Sally Kellerman and Paxton Whitehead. Or if it were the 1980s, and you needed a rapid-fire quipster who could credibly laugh in the face of a muscled goon and get away with it, how about an SNL-era Robert Downey, Jr.? And what if your comedy was about the college underdogs, the smaller, slighter, offbeat undergraduates, and you wanted to inject a love interest that was gorgeous but also had a little, you know, geek cred? What about (then future) DS9 heart-throbber Terry Farrell?And what if, after you had signed your comedy's straight men, your sidekick, and your love interest, you also landed Ned Beatty, Adrienne Barbeau, Burt Young, Sam Kinison, and Kurt Vonnegut-yes THAT Kurt-freakin'-Vonnegut (to play himself, naturally, it's a film about higher learning) for minor roles and cameos?Pretty ding-dang good, right? But wait, it's a college film, so for the heavy, you need a classic, turned-up collar, sneering, "bro" type. And you go get William Zabka--yeah, the 'Cobra Kai' kid from The Karate Kid. Ring the bell (wait, do colleges use 'bells?'). This movie, an absolute mid-1980s gem, exists, with this cast, and it stars Rodney Dangerfield. It is the best comedy and best film he ever starred in (Caddyshack excepted, but was he a lead there, really?). It is called Back to School. Rodney Dangerfield is "Thornton Melon," captain of industry, millionaire. Thornton's normal-guy son Jason has started college, but it's been a bumpy ride, and he wants to drop out. Thornton, who never went, offers to enroll in college with him so the loving father and son can tough things out together. He enrolls, both son and father face down their natural rivals, and a wonderfully acted feel-good comedy ensues. Back to School is, it seems, permanently underrated and under-viewed since most people who haven't seen it will mistake it for a Dangerfield yuck-yuck schtick groaner, and never press 'Play.' This movie is worth your time on a quiet evening, and it is extra fun for parents and older teenagers to watch together.

FlashCallahan Millionaire businessman Thornton Melon is upset when his son Jason announces that he is not sure about staying at college. Thornton insists that college is the best thing for him, and to prove his point, he agrees to enroll in school along with his son. Thornton is a big hit on campus: always throwing the biggest parties, knowing all the right people, but is this the way to pass college?.....Here in the UK, Dangerfield is a drama that was shown on the BBC back in the nineties starring some bloke your mum used to fancy, because he looked trustworthy, not a stand up comedian.So the only thing I've ever seen him in is Natural Born Killers. I knew of him, but the only films of this that had anything near a prolific release here were, Ladybugs, Rover Dangerfield, and this.And if it wasn't for him, this would have been your average fish out of water comedy,that would have had mild success, because during this stage of the eighties, college movies were the fashion, so to speak.But he lights up every scene he's in, treating the film like a stand-up routine rather than a narrative, and this kind of hides the predictable fish out of water cliché.But you find all the regular tropes that you would expect....The Professor who wants him to fail.... The Love interest who just happens to be seeing said professor..... The Jock who causes trouble..... The make or break exam..... And of course, the last minute act that saves the day......But it's never dull, there are a lot if laughs, and it's always good to see Downey Jr.A good addition to the sub-genre..

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.

Scott LeBrun The late, legendary comedian Rodney Dangerfield shines here in a vehicle for which he also helped concoct the story. He's at his funniest and most engaging, reeling off one priceless one-liner after another; you just can't help but like his character. He plays Thornton Melon, a self made millionaire who created a big business without the benefit of a higher education. When his geeky college age son Jason (Keith Gordon) expresses desire to drop out, not happy with his lot in life, Thornton is motivated to do whatever he can to help out the kid. His brainstorm is simple: enroll in college himself! He manages to buy his way in (donating money to a new business centre) and once settled in proceeds to not exactly take his education that seriously, becoming a life-of-the-party type who sometimes embarrasses Jason. He even has a team of professionals do his homework for him. When he's found out, it's up to him to actually learn some things in order to salvage the whole endeavour. With a screenplay co-written by Harold Ramis, director Alan Metter allows the cast and subsequently the viewer to simply have a lot of fun. The movies' good vibes are pretty hard to resist. There are some brilliant touches; just to name one, author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. cameos as himself, hired to write a paper about his own works, after which a professor exclaims that the writer doesn't know the first thing about Vonnegut! Dangerfields' lines are instantly quotable ("They should donate my body to science fiction!") and he also has a whale of a time singing a cover of the Beatles tune "Twist and Shout" (the same year that Matthew Broderick did this in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"). The supporting cast is equally solid and memorable, especially adorable Sally Kellerman as Dangerfields' English professor and love interest. Also appearing are Burt Young, Robert Downey Jr., lovely Terry Farrell, M. Emmet Walsh, Adrienne Barbeau, "Karate Kid" villain William Zabka, Ned Beatty, Severn Darden, the late, great Sam Kinison, Robert Picardo, Edie McClurg, Timothy Stack, and Jason Hervey of 'The Wonder Years'. It's particularly great to see composer Danny Elfman on screen, performing with his band at the time, Oingo Boingo. Overall the movie IS very much of its time, but this is nothing but good if you are like this viewer and retain a fondness for the comedies of this era. If Thornton weren't a basically likable man who just wanted the best for his son, this wouldn't work as well as it does. But it DOES work, and we want to see these characters succeed, and take satisfaction in the way things turn out. The choice of Aretha Franklins' "Respect" to accompany the end credits is most appropriate. Eight out of 10.