### Back to School 1986 toSchool % 281986 % 29 Comedy , Romance , Sport USAPG 13 , 1 h 36 min Rodney Dangerfield , Sally Kellerman , Burt Young , Keith Gordon Director Alan MetterIMDb rating # movieguidestars # 9733 # 9733 # 9733 # 9733 # 9733 # 9733 # 9733 # 9734 # 9734 # 9734 6 . 510 21 , 506 votes Millionaire businessman Thornton Melon is upset when his son Jason announces that he is not sure about going to college . Thornton insists that college is the best thing he never had for himself , and to prove his point , he agrees to enroll in school along with his son . Thornton is a big hit on campus always throwing the biggest parties , knowing all the right people , but is this the way to pass college ? IMDbCritical reception The film received mainly positive reviews from critics , and is the 6 th highestgrossing film of 1986 , as well as the second highest grossing comedy film of the year , behind Crocodile Dundee records state that in addition to the rental and theatrical gross it received , it went on to gross $ 108 , 634 , 920 globally . Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times noted that Dangerfield seems to be setting the film ' s brisk pace and flawless timing himself . Nina Darnton wrote in The New York Times that the film is a goodnatured potpourri of gags , funny bits , populist sentiment and antiintellectualism . Rotten Tomatoes ' Tomatometer shows that 84 % of 31 critics ' reviews were positive . Roger Ebert ' s Chicago SunTimes review read This is exactly the sort of plot Marx or Fields could have appeared in . Dangerfield brings it something they might also have brought along a certain pathos . WikipediaMore info at toSchool % 281986 % 29 , Back % 20 to % 20 School , Rotten Tomatoestoschool , , . I am a bot . Send me feedback % 2 Fr % 2 FMovieGuidesubjectRe % 3 A % 20 Confidence 1 . 03 . Data sources and other i n f ormationrMovieGuidewabout .