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Back to School

Back to School

Comedy · 1986

Self-made millionaire Thornton Melon decides to get a better education and enrolls at his son Jason's college. While Jason tries to fit in with his fellow students, Thornton struggles to gain his son's respect, giving way to hilarious antics.

Movie details

Back to School

“He enrolled in college for the pursuit of finer things...like co-eds, shapely professors, fun and rock and roll.”

1986 Comedy 1h 36m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

Self-made millionaire Thornton Melon decides to get a better education and enrolls at his son Jason's college. While Jason tries to fit in with his fellow students, Thornton struggles to gain his son's respect, giving way to hilarious antics.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Back to School?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Oscar

Oscar

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Kindergarten Cop

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Hard-edged cop John Kimble gets more than he bargained for when he goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to get the goods on a brutal drug lord while at the same time protecting the man's young son. Pitted against a class of boisterous moppets whose antics try his patience and test his mettle, Kimble may have met his match … in more ways than one.

American Dreamer

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In this winsome comedy, an entitled Economics professor pursues a tactic to buy an ailing widow’s mansion for nothing, but he quickly realizes that his seemingly foolproof strategy won’t be as easy as he thought.

The New Guy

The New Guy

Comedy · 2002

Nerdy high school senior Dizzy Harrison has finally gotten lucky -- after purposely getting expelled, he takes lessons in 'badass cool' from a convict and enrolls at a new school. But can he keep up the ruse?

St Trinian's

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When their beloved school is threatened with closure should the powers that be fail to raise the proper funds, the girls scheme to steal a priceless painting and use the profits to pull St. Trinian's out of the red.

Mean Girls

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Comedy · 2024

New student Cady Heron is welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the elite group of popular girls called ‘The Plastics,’ ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George and her minions Gretchen and Karen. However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels, she finds herself prey in Regina’s crosshairs. As Cady sets to take down the group’s apex predator with the help of her outcast friends Janis and Damian, she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating the most cutthroat jungle of all: high school.

Drillbit Taylor

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Comedy · 2008

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Alan Metter

Written by

Rodney Dangerfield · Greg Fields · Dennis Snee · William Porter

Rodney Dangerfield

Rodney Dangerfield

Thornton Melon

Sally Kellerman

Sally Kellerman

Diane

Burt Young

Burt Young

Lou

Keith Gordon

Keith Gordon

Jason Melon

Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr.

Derek

William Zabka

William Zabka

Chas

Paxton Whitehead

Paxton Whitehead

Phillip Barbay

Court is in session

Put Back to School on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Popcorn Loyalist

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Big-Idea Head

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.