An Adam Sandler character is usually, if belatedly, all about growing up - and changing for the better. Specifically, upon finding out that his father's wealth and power allowed the now-grown Billy to skate by unearned, Sandler's shenanigans-prone character must repeat-and pass-grades K-12 in six weeks.Īs setups go, it's a fine vehicle for the immature Billy to (often with comical roughness) interact with actual children, and for Sandler to sow the seeds of the evolving but similar character arcs to come.
In Billy Madison, Sandler plays the titular spoiled and childish (or childlike, if you're generous) hotel heir whose anticipated elevation to head of his father's company becomes contingent upon him going back to school. Sandler's first proper post- SNL success set the character template he and others would mine, with greater or lesser success, for the next three decades.
