Back to School

Starring Rodney Dangerfield, Robert Downey Jr, and Sally Kellerman
Directed by Alan Metter
Year: 1986
IMDB / Wikipedia

Continuing on my journey, I come across another classic 1980s screw-ball comedy that aligns just in time for the start of the new school year. In Back to School, Dangerfield plays Thornton Melon, an uncouth fashion mogul who enrolls at his son’s (Keith Gordon) college to get the education he missed out on while making millions while also helping his son loosen up and get the full college experience. With his trusted friend/chauffeur (Burt Young) in tow, he romances his English professor (Kellerman), makes an enemy of his up-tight economics professor (Paxton Whitehead), tolerates his son’s hipster anti-social roommate (Downey), and makes fast friends with the dean (Ned Beatty) and diving coach (M. Emmet Walsh). All of this with cameos from Oingo Boingo and Kurt Vonnegut make this one of the more quintessential 1980s films.

The most fascinating aspect of this film is that, though there’s a sports angle in the film (almost every movie about college has some sort of sports slant), it is of an unconventional sport, in this case competitive diving. Though not a popular sport by any means, the film does a good job showing the drama and the common threads of the sport as it pertains to the college social hierarchy as well as showing the bond in the father-son dynamic. I always felt this was something truly remarkable even though Dangerfield’s “Triple Lindy” is as preposterous as it is nearly physically impossible. I’m just glad the proposed remake never happened and this comedy can remain an unparalleled, yet underappreciated, classic.

Most Valuable Actor: One of the driving forces in almost every movie Rodney Dangerfield starred in (with the obvious exception of Caddyshack) is that he is allowed to be the main hub around which the film lives or dies. This can be said about this film in a positive way. Despite the fact he recycles some old lines from his comedy albums, he is still charming and downright likable enough to carry the entire production on his back. Thankfully, due to some deft casting, this wasn’t necessary, which made the film that much stronger.

Trailer: