Billy Madison is a 1995 American comedy film directed by Tamra Davis. It stars Adam Sandler in the title role, along with Bradley Whitford, Bridgette Wilson, Norm Macdonald and Darren McGavin. The film was written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy, and produced by Robert Simonds. It made over $26.4 million worldwide and debuted at #1.^[1]  The film is about a slacker (Billy Madison) who must go back to school in order to take over his father's company. The comedy also features Chris Farley and Steve Buscemi with uncredited appearances. Sandler would later form a production company, Happy Madison Productions, named after a combination of this film's title character and Happy Gilmore's.

Cast

• Adam Sandler as Billy Madison
• Darren McGavin as Brian Madison
• Bridgette Wilson as Veronica Vaughn
• Bradley Whitford as Eric Gordon
• Josh Mostel as Principal Max Anderson
• Norm Macdonald as Frank
• Mark Beltzman as Jack
• Larry Hankin as Carl Alphonse
• Theresa Merritt as Juanita
• Jim Downey as Principal/Judge of the "Decathlon"
• Hrant Alianak as Pete
• Vincent Marino as Cook
• Robert Smigel as Mr. Oblaski
• Chris Farley as Bus Driver
• Steve Buscemi as Danny McGrath

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times commented; "Sandler has a bad habit of thinking he is funnier than we do." On At the Movies, Siskel and Ebert have the film a very bad review, and Roger Ebert said of Sandler, "...Not an attractive screen presence, he might have a career as a villain of a fall guy or the butt of a joke, but as the protagonist his problem is he creates the fingernails on the blackboard." Gene Siskel added "...you don't have a good motivation for the character's behaviour." Rotten Tomatoes reports that based on the 38 reviews counted, 45% of critics gave the film a positive review. On Metacritic, the film has a rare score of 16 based on 13 reviews.

Box Office

Billy Madison debuted at No.1

Awards and Nominations

Nominated

• MTV Movie Award
  • Adam Sandler- Best Comedic Performance