On B List of Movie Reviews
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Back to School (1986)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
11/06
11/06:
Rodney still gets no respect.
Back to School has a slow start, rolling with weak jokes, before Rodney Dangerfield finally shows up, and the
movie takes off from there and is uproariously funny.
When Rodney's character, Thornton Melon, was quizzed during the oral examination, his professor said to him, "I have one
question for you." He let out a sigh of relief before hearing, "...in 27 parts." Then, he whispered, "I would love to
break you in 27 parts."
What does Melon do when he's assigned a research paper on the works of Kurt Vonnegut? He hires the very same author to
do it for him. Lo and behold, Melon gets an F because the professor says he knew nothing about Kurt Vonnegut. Genius.
Stuck in a long line during Registration Day? Melon's simple solution: start a rumor that Bruce Springsteen is here on the campus.
His son is denied admission to the university? No problem. Just write out a check for a new building that'll be named in his
honor.
All in all, everything shown in Back to School is true about universities nowadays.