![]() ![]() Like it or not, Sandler has been a consistently successful screen star for nearly 20 years, and it appears as though he is here to stay. Recent reports suggest that for Sandler’s recent film, 2013’s hit Grown Ups 2, he was paid a salary of over $15,000,000 - a paycheck 150% of the entire budget of his Billy Madison. Adam Sandler went on to be one of the most successful comic stars in film history, whose films have grossed a combined $2 billion dollars worldwide. Barbara Shulgasser of the San Francisco Chronicle seemed to sum up the critical reaction to the film by bemoaning the state of the film industry and asking “Is this how one conducts a career these days?” But the film’s financial success was the start of something very big, something that would seem to baffle those critics who panned the film in 1995. Brian Lowry of Variety worried if audiences would grow tired of the protagonist before the opening credits were over. Roger Ebert said its star Sandler was “not an attractive screen presence,” and compared him to nails on a chalkboard. Madison was greeted with solid, if unspectacular, box office receipts and quite poor critical reception. It was just that SNL had replaced or expedited more traditional show business routes, like stand-up clubs or radio comedy troupes. Once considerable fan appreciation has built up for the actor, they’ll be given their own starring vehicle tailored to their particular persona. ![]() ![]() Dan Aykroyd is a deadpan obsessive, able to spout a variety of trivia and jargon without blinking an eye. Bill Murray is a dryly sarcastic oddball who balances cynicism and a shrugging contentment. Eddie Murphy is a motormouthed, wisecracking but good-natured thorn in the side of the establishment. While at first these actors are expected to be versatile sketch comedy utility players, eventually they will develop a clear and definable persona that can be slotted into various scenarios and settings with minimal variation on the central character - a character that will, with time, be scarcely separable from the public’s vision of the actor themselves. The formula was simple: cast promising young comedians and comic actors and let them develop a menagerie of recurring characters and celebrity impressions. That notoriously hit-or-miss program served perhaps most importantly as an incubator for future comedy stars, going all the way back to the show’s inception in 1975 and the show’s first breakout cast member, Chevy Chase, and extending through such stars as Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Jon Lovitz, Dana Carvey, and just prior to the release of Billy Madison, Mike Myers. Released in February of 1995, the film seemed notable at the time only for being the first leading vehicle for its star, Adam Sandler, on the verge of finishing up a memorable four year run on NBC’s flagship variety show Saturday Night Live. It’s all too easy for film enthusiasts - critics, academics, amateur bloggers - to ignore Billy Madison (1995). ![]()
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