Back To School
Rodney Dangerfield remains one of the oddest ducks in the history of American comedy. A guy whose schtick was developed after a lifetime of failure and depression over seemingly never being able to make it in show business, so that when he finally âmade itâ using a plethora of funny one liners (and a few that were not so funny), he was already pushing 60 when the big offers started coming in, so naturally Rodney figured he had to make up for lost time by accepting every big money gig, TV commercial, and film appearance he could grab since he knew he wouldnât have too long to enjoy his fame. His movie appearances in the 80s were sporadic yet interesting as his participation amongst the legendary ensemble in Caddyshack and his starring role (with Joe Pesci as his sidekick) in the hilariously underrated Easy Money were both classics, but then this 1986 release came along and in some ways it can be seen as being a little divisive. Yes, Rodney is Rodney and he gets to go off in his own style with a solid supporting cast behind him, but at times it still feels like the story was being made up as it went along with no less than SEVEN credited writers (including Harold Ramis) and scenes that are set up solely for Dangerfield to unleash an array of one liners (keeping in mind that it is now common knowledge that Dangerfield, Chase and Murray made up much of Caddyshack on the spot with Ramis as director herding them along and that turned out brilliant). Here Rodney plays a character very similar to the one whom he played in Caddyshack (even a photo from that movie with him in his golf outfit is used during the opening montage), a self made millionaire and crass social misfit who prefers a cold beer to some champagne. Here his successful business venture is that of suits and ties for the physically overweight (called Tall and Fat) with a whole entire franchise of stores nationwide. His Thornton Melon is living proof that a college education means nothing provided you still work your ass off and figure out the way that the world works on your own.  Regardless, his beloved son (Keith Gordon) has been sent off to college where he lies to his dad and tells him that heâs a big fraternity man as well as a star member of the diving team (when really heâs just a towel boy). Rodney was planning on visiting his son, but first he must get rid of his cheating, shrewish second wife (Adrienne Barbeau) before heading out there with his best friend, bodyguard and driver (Burt Young in what is a relief to see him in something other than playing Paulie in a Rocky movie) only to learn not only the embarrassing truth, but also that his son is considering quitting school, citing his own dad as to why he doesnât really need college to make it in life. This epiphany is what compels Rodney to finally enroll himself and become the oldest living freshman at a major university, a feat he accomplishes by bribing the Dean (Ned Beatty, whose actual characterâs name is Dean Martin).  In fact, it is shown here that Rodneyâs solution for everything is to simply throw his money around, paying off cops, campus security and experts from NASA to do his astronomy homework. He exposes how much of the curriculum that gets taught at the college is just utter bullshit especially when he clashes with the schoolâs standoffish business professor (Paxton Whitehead), listening to him explain to his class how to start a successful business while he (who already has) constantly interjects with the actual truth of what running a business is really about including the ugly sides of it while openly declaring that the professorâs business strategy would only be successful in Fantasyland. The Whitehead character would appear to be the main antagonist here, playing his role so seriously stiff you would think that he just stepped out of a Merchant Ivory drama, but the animosity not only stems from Rodney the college freshman knowing more about how to run a business than he does, but the fact that they both wind up dating the same woman, a literature professor (Sally Kellerman, who was initially reluctant to play a romantic lead opposite Dangerfield) who also has Rodney in her class too, and so when Rodney is assigned by her to write a paper on Kurt Vonnegut Jr.âs work, he merely hires Vonnegut himself to write the paper (in one of the filmâs best moments) and when on a date she asks him about the various books which she considers her favorites, he always replies with âI saw the movie.â Of course no points are awarded for predicting that Rodney will soon realize that he canât just buy his way through college and that sooner or later heâs going to have to get by on his own academic merit (or lack thereof). However, the epitome of Dangerfieldâs image (as it was in Caddyshack) is that of being the ultimate party animal (of sorts), the guy whoâs always the first to hand out free beers and booze for everybody and the first one to jump on stage and start dancing and singing along with the band while everybody cheers him on.  Whether one finds those qualities about him endearing or annoying is certainly a matter of preference depending on the viewerâs tastes, but it can get rather tiresome watching Dangerfield (while playing a rich guy) having a much better time with himself than what most of us are used to, but at least it cracks open the can of worms as it pertains to the son played by Gordon who actually becomes more withdrawn and alienated being around his fun loving dad especially after being told to his face by his hateful diving team rival (William Zabka, still in bullying asshole mode after his legendary turn as Johnny in Karate Kid) that everyone is well aware that the only thing that makes him anything special is his rich dad who enjoys throwing his money around, thus showing just how things can backfire for Rodney by acting the way that he does. Also in the cast is a very young Robert Downey Jr. (who was both filming his role here AND working on Saturday Night Live at the same time) as Gordonâs wacky, blue haired roommate, not so much a punk rock type but rather a completely failed attempt at being a student activist radical who finds that more often than not his lame forms of protest result in him getting beaten up instead of being celebrated (or getting laid).  We also have Terry Farrell as the beautiful, seemingly virtuous college girl (who also carries the lame clichĂ© of dating the obvious asshole Zabka much like Elisabeth Shue did in Karate Kid) whom Gordon is madly in love with, M. Emmet Walsh as the easygoing diving coach who merely shrugs off the fact that he hasnât won a meet in years and Sam Kinison in a (very) memorable extended cameo as the history professor who happens to take his own version of history very seriously. The film concludes with a double climax so to speak, with Dangerfield being forced to take an oral exam in order to prove his academic worth followed up by his sonâs diving competition where (in the filmâs most ludicrous conceit) after we are told that as a young man Dangerfield was an expert diver himself and seeing a number of examples where Rodney (or rather his stunt double) makes some expert dives, he is recruited as a last minute substitute to compete alongside his son where he (stunt double) performs a dive called The Triple Lindy in a badly shot and edited sequence that openly displays the stunt double doing something athletic which the real Rodney would never do. Maybe the fakeness of the bit is really what makes it funny but it just seems to give the filmmakers an excuse to have Dangerfield win the day in more ways than one. At least he and Burt Young make a solid onscreen team whenever they are together here and some real charm is elicited from the other actors while working with Rodney throughout, but the filmâs underlying theme that true academia is nothing but a moneymaking crock of shit and the only actual education is what there is that can be learned in the real world itself (as underscored by Dangerfield in his speech at the end) is actually subversive and potent enough to make one reconsider if going to college can truly better your life or instead be the same as going on an extended vacation (an idea that Rodney exploits throughout the movie) where rich kids gather to party, get laid and try to make themselves feel more special than the kids who were either too poor or too stupid to live out that kind of temporary fantasy life before their delayed entrance into the rough edges of private sector realityâŠ
8/10