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Back to School

Play trailer Poster for Back to School PG-13 Released Jun 13, 1986 1h 36m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
88% Tomatometer 40 Reviews 68% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Thornton Melon (Rodney Dangerfield) is concerned that his son Jason (Keith Gordon) is unsure whether to go to college, so the uneducated self-made millionaire encourages him by signing up as a student as well. As Jason tries to establish himself among his peers and make the diving team, Thornton falls for a pretty professor (Sally Kellerman) and gets others do his schoolwork for him. When the suspicious dean (Paxton Whitehead) finds out, Thornton needs to show he can get by on his own.
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Back to School

Back to School

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Critics Consensus

Back to School gives Rodney Dangerfield plenty of room to riff -- and supports the freewheeling funnyman with enough of a story to keep things interesting between punchlines.

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Critics Reviews

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Rita Kempley Washington Post Like Groucho before him, Dangerfield is at his best playing against straight society, humbling the smug with his audacious wit. Aug 25, 2023 Full Review Jay Boyar Orlando Sentinel The vibes, here, are all wrong, and Dangerfield's unique timing is disrupted in most scenes. Aug 1, 2013 Full Review Desmond Ryan Philadelphia Inquirer I mean no disrespect to Rodney Dangerfield in suggesting that Back to School is a comedy that belongs back on the drawing board. Rated: 2/4 Aug 1, 2013 Full Review Dan Webster Spokesman-Review (Washington) In Rodney Dangerfield's patented act, he plays the perpetual chump lamenting the fact that he gets no respect. The same hardly can be said of his movie career, especially following the success of this feature which, for the most part, is hilarious. Rated: 3/4 Jul 27, 2024 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com ...a funny movie in 1986, and it’s still funny now; the suggestion that money can’t buy everything seems richer with the passing years... Rated: 435 Jan 23, 2024 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...a seemingly foolproof premise that's employed to watchable (if far from spellbinding) effect... Rated: 2.5/4 Sep 3, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (866) audience reviews
S R Hilarious movie from one of the greatest stand up comedians in history! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/29/23 Full Review Jason W Rodney Dangerfield, Sam Kinison , an early Robert Downey Jr. hurt what more could you want. A perfectly fine popcorn comedies from the 80s. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/27/23 Full Review Whats Good G Back to School Rodney Dangerfield is a comedy great who is known to spit as many clever barbs against others as he does to himself. Who is a more perfect guy to take intellectuals in their ivory tower down a peg? The overall storyline is touching, it reminds us how important parental influence can be, and how sometimes your children can switch the roles on you when you need it. Other than that, if you're a fan of Rodney's one-liner-machine-gunnery, imagine if you got to experience it at a college-party, or at Economics class where he tells an obnoxious professor(Dr. Barbay) a thing or two about business! Anyone who snubs this film for lack of story complexity and consummate acting is probably as fun at a party as Dr. Barbay! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Unmissable, Dangerfield is great. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the classics. Rodney Dangerfield and Burt Young are so good from start to finish. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Pretty weird movie but still contains a few laughs from Dangerfield. 3.5/5 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Back to School

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Cast & Crew

Back to School

Back to School: Official Clip - Springsteen in the Parking Lot Back to School: Official Clip - Springsteen in the Parking Lot 2:13 Back to School: Official Clip - The Triple Lindy Back to School: Official Clip - The Triple Lindy 2:08 Back to School: Official Clip - Are You Fat? Back to School: Official Clip - Are You Fat? 2:04 Back to School: Official Clip - I Don't Take S*** From No One Back to School: Official Clip - I Don't Take S*** From No One 2:10 Back to School: Official Clip - Academic Fraud Back to School: Official Clip - Academic Fraud 1:33 Back to School: Official Clip - Thornton Donates A Building Back to School: Official Clip - Thornton Donates A Building 2:16 Back to School: Official Clip - Thornton Talks Business Back to School: Official Clip - Thornton Talks Business 3:03 Back to School: Official Clip - Professor Terguson Loses It Back to School: Official Clip - Professor Terguson Loses It 2:35 Back to School: Official Clip - I'm Kurt Vonnegut Back to School: Official Clip - I'm Kurt Vonnegut 1:34 Back to School: Official Clip - Marge Takes Notes Back to School: Official Clip - Marge Takes Notes 1:42 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis Thornton Melon (Rodney Dangerfield) is concerned that his son Jason (Keith Gordon) is unsure whether to go to college, so the uneducated self-made millionaire encourages him by signing up as a student as well. As Jason tries to establish himself among his peers and make the diving team, Thornton falls for a pretty professor (Sally Kellerman) and gets others do his schoolwork for him. When the suspicious dean (Paxton Whitehead) finds out, Thornton needs to show he can get by on his own.
Director
Alan Metter
Producer
Chuck Russell
Screenwriter
Steven Kampmann, William Porter, PJ Torokvei, Harold Ramis
Production Co
Paper Clip Productions, Orion Pictures
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 13, 1986, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$89.2M
Runtime
1h 36m
Sound Mix
Surround
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