Movie-A-Day #399 - Back To School

[Chaplin]

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Starring the late, great Rodney Dangerfield, Back To School holds a special place with Gen Xers. Dumb? Yes. Horribly acted? Absolutely. But a lot of fun? You got that right. Also notable for a rare movie appearance of Danny Elfman, singing as the lead in his 80s band, Oingo Boingo. Great one-liners by Dangerfield.

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Amazon.com:
Amazon.com
In the mid-1980s, standup comic Rodney Dangerfield underwent a renewed wave of popularity, finding a surprisingly enthusiastic baby-boomer audience. What else to do but make a movie that shows off Dangerfield's alternately knowing and boorish humor? This may not be on the AFI list of great films, but it delivers laughs aplenty in its story of a rough-edged tycoon who made his fortune in clothes for the stout and tall and decides to attend college in order to be closer to his son (Keith Gordon). There's not much plot, but lots of room for Dangerfield's one-line riffs. The goggle-eyed comic veteran displays surprising charm, enough to make his romance with professor Sally Kellerman believable. Look for cameos by late comedian Sam Kinison and author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. --Marshall Fine
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[Ryanwb]

My brother and I loved this movie.... Back in the day when HBO and Showtime only aired like 8 movies a day, this was on everyday back in the summer of '87.
I especially love William Zabka in this movie, I don't know why they didn't just name him "Johnny" and drop hints that he was really a karate kid from California. What would it take for him to come back and do a commentary on the 20th anniversary DVD, come on people make this happen

 

[Chaplin]

The acting was pretty horrid, but it actually was a pretty good ensemble cast--Adrienne Barbeau, Robert Picardo, Sam Kinison, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Robert Downey, Jr., and Ned Beatty.

 

[Bada0Bing]

I too used to watch this back in the late 80’s. I’ve probably seen it 20 times. I love the history class scene.

Professor Terguson: Good answer. Good answer. I like the way you think. I'm gonna be watching you.
Thornton Melon: [to his classmates] Nice guy. Really seems to care. About what I have no idea.

I saw on IMDB that they are putting together a remake with Cedric the Entertainer. I hope it doesn’t happen.

 

[Ryanwb]

Someone told me that Jim Carrey was originally cast to play Sam Kinnison's role but was later dropped because Kinnison was one of Dangerfield's close friends and wanted to get him the exposure.

I never know if this crap is true. Carrey would have been pretty young

 

[Bada0Bing]

Someone told me that Jim Carrey was originally cast to play Sam Kinnison's role but was later dropped because Kinnison was one of Dangerfield's close friends and wanted to get him the exposure.

I never know if this crap is true. Carrey would have been pretty young

Yeah, I saw that over at IMDB on the trivia page.

"The producers originally wanted Jim Carrey to play Rodney's history professor, but decided he was too young."