YMMV / Back to School

• Awesome Music: The title track to the movie; play that song on your first day of classes, and it's gonna be a good semester; the tune is so catchy, it's Recycled Trailer Music for upbeat comedy film trailers. "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo (composer Danny Elfman's band) also qualifies.
• Designated Hero: Thornton is a likable guy, but he commits various unethical acts, like bribing his way into college and paying others to do his and Jason's homework.
• Designated Villain: Barbay is definitely a pretentious ivory tower snob, but his hatred of Thornton for showing him up and bribing his way through school is pretty justified and understandable if you're a teacher.
• Director Displacement: Harold Ramis was a co-writer and producer on the film.
• Genius Bonus:
  • One of the books Thornton (didn't) read for class was The Great Gatsby, a critique of the American Dream and the decadence of the moneyed class. A fitting book for Thornton, an extravagant businessman.
  • Thorton's name, Melon, is a reference to Andrew Mellon, a prominent industrialist and Herbert Hoover's Secretary of the Treasury.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Sam Kinison's homophobic, sexist and racist comedy makes his appearance uncomfortable today.
  • Thornton being able to bribe his way into school and pay others to do his homework becomes uncomfortable in light of the college admissions scandal.
• Heartwarming Moments: It's a small thing, but in the history class sequence with Sam Kinison's nutty teacher Professor Terguson, a young woman offers her opinion on the Vietnam War, leading Terguson (a Vietnam vet) to unleash a tirade at her, bringing her to tears. Thornton immediately steps in to defend the girl, drawing Terguson's attention and sparing her further embarrassment. He may be a party animal, but Thornton is also a genuinely nice person.
  • Similarly, during Thornton's first economics class, he immediately starts pointing out all the practical aspects of starting a business that Dr. Barbay didn't acknowledge. Many of the other students immediately start taking notes as Thornton talks, and it's clear that he isn't trying to show up Barbay—he sincerely wants to help the kids learn by offering them some real-world business advice.
• Narm Charm: The guy pulling off the Triple Lindy dive is so obviously not Rodney, that it's actually kind of funny.
• One-Scene Wonder: Sam Kinison's deranged professor left quite an impression despite being in two scenes.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • The guy whom Thornton catches his wife with is Star Trek actor Robert Picardo, who plays the EMH in Star Trek: Voyager.
  • Valerie Desmond is another future Trek star, Terry Farrell, who plays Jadzia Dax in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
  • Keith Gordon stopped acting not long after this film and started directing TV, including Wild Palms and Dexter. Most folks remember him as an actor as the lead of Christine.
  • Robert Downey Jr. (a.k.a. Iron Man) was still fairly early in his career at this point, though not exactly a nobody.
  • Derek Savage — yes, that Derek Savage — appears as an extra.
• Unintentional Period Piece:
  • Thornton's advice to set money aside to pay off the teamsters and other mobsters in construction is now dated, as the Mafia no longer has a stranglehold on construction through the unions.
  • Thornton's econ professor stops his lecture to find out who's typing in his class. Modern students do type their notes, but they use laptops, which are admittedly quieter.
  • Prof. Terguson, a completely psychotic 'Nam casualty who's still young enough for it to seem ambiguous at to whether or not he's actually a veteran. As of 2024, the youngest Vietnam veterans are 69-years-old (if drafted at 18 in 1973, the last year of combat) and would likely be retired from teaching altogether.
  • A middle-aged college student was a far more unusual sight in the 1980s than would be the case just a couple of decades later, so the movie's premise doesn't have the same weirdness today, as when it first came out.
  • The movie insists that you must go to college to become a man. Today, given the rising univerity costs, Jason dropping out and going to a trade school is an equally acceptable (if less ambitious) choice.
• Values Resonance: The scene where Thornton showed up Barbay with his street smarts and learned business experience, has gained relevance as some people are questioning how many of the standard univerity classes can prepare students for the skills they'll need to get by in the real world.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: At first glance, the film might look like a funny family comedy about an old man (played by Rodney Dangerfield) who goes back to college. It isn't rated PG-13 for nothing.

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