Comedy

Billy Madison (Adam Sandler) is the son of the founder of Madison Hotels. The company is on the Fortune 500, having started from a few hotels in PA and now has become a huge company. Like many fathers he wants to pass the business onto his son. The only unfortunate part of this equation is that Billy is a complete and utter moron who does nothing but drink beer, get high and basically act like a child despite being 27. After learning that his father basically paid his way through school bribing his teachers, Billy is determined to repeat the 12 grades he never completed. The only catch is that Billy must pass each grade within a 2-week grace period and by June 15th.

I sometimes wonder if there is something wrong with me. Everyone I talk claims that Billy Madison was extremely funny containing laugh a minute humor and comedy. Maybe I was out of it or I simply don’t “get” the humor, but I literally only laughed once during this entire film (when Billy is poking fun at the 3rd grader who has trouble reading). Otherwise from that, I found myself repeatedly wondering what was so funny. The story is rather dull and actually makes no sense. Where on Earth would something like this even possibly happen? Are we actually suppose to believe that a 27 year old man would be allowed to return to school? I don’t care how rich your father is, this would never happen. A possible modern example could be the Hilton Hotels and Paris Hilton, but even thinking of that comparison just doesn’t work here.

In Good Company is a 2004 film from the director of About a Boy. It tells the story of Dan Foreman, an experienced 50 something head of an ad agency. His comfortable and familiar world is torn apart when a young executive impresses and is promoted to the job Dan held, despite the agency having its best period in 20 years. That young man is Carter Duryea, played by Topher Grace. Upon his arrival, he tries his best not to upset the balance, attempting to befriend Dan and his family. Corporate politics force his hand into firing people for profit balancing. Eventually he invites himself over to the house of Dan for dinner and meets his daughter, Alex. Alex is the one who sees something different in him and Carter begins to change. The rest of the movie concerns Carter, Dan and their shaky friendship, teetering on the knowledge that he is dating Alex. Along with a top corporate visit and more lay-offs, Carter is on shaky ground, vying for success and loyalty at the same precarious time.

The movie is billed as a romantic comedy, but as the relationship does not begin until well into the film, it seems like more of a drama, especially with the aspect of his wife. Interestingly, the film was originally titled Synergy until it was revealed that 9 out of 10 test goers did not know the meaning of the word.