MOVIE · 1986
Back to School
ComedyRomance96 min
Self-made millionaire Thornton Melon heads to his son’s college to prove a point — and ends up enrolling himself. Rodney Dangerfield is Thornton, a loud, cash-flinging father whose efforts to help only make life harder for Keith Gordon’s Jason, a freshman already struggling to fit in on campus. As Thornton blunders through classes, tutors, and faculty politics, the father-son standoff sits alongside his attempts to buy his way past every obstacle. Sally Kellerman and Burt Young turn up in the orbit around him as the movie bounces between lecture halls, dorm-room humiliation, and Thornton’s very public approach to higher education.
Find out what fits your taste.
Rate movies and shows in ReelRecs, save your next watch, and get personal recommendations from the Reel Recs online service. Free on iPhone and Android.
Where to watch in US
These offers have not all been recently verified. Check the provider for current availability.
Included with a subscription
Free
- Hoopla
- Kanopy
Free with ads
- The Roku Channel
- Tubi TV
Rent
- Amazon Prime Video
- Apple TV
- Fandango At Home
- Google Play Movies
- Plex
- Spectrum On Demand
- YouTube
Buy
- Amazon Prime Video
- Apple TV
- Fandango At Home
- Google Play Movies
- YouTube
Availability checked October 24, 2026. Offers can change. Rentals and purchases are separate from subscriptions.
More to consider
Stir Crazy (1980)
Out of work and out of options, Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe leave New York for California, only to get blamed for a bank robbery after thieves steal the woodpecker costumes they were wearing at a promotion. Gene Wilde…
Ruthless People (1986)
Sam Stone is a rich businessman who can’t stand his wife, so when Barbara is kidnapped for ransom, he sees an opportunity instead of a crisis. Danny DeVito is the smug, scheming Sam, while Bette Midler’s Barbara quickly…
The Sure Thing (1985)
College student Walter “Gib” Gibson is headed to Los Angeles over Christmas break, chasing a date he’s sure will be waiting for him when he gets there. John Cusack’s Gib gets paired for the trip with Alison Bradbury, an…
Catalogue checked October 30, 2026. Use ReelRecs with an assistant