Back to School (1986)

Tony Meloni, a child of Italian immigrants, returns from school one day to his father’s tailor shop, bearing a report card with poor grades. His ambition is to go into his father’s line of work, but his father warns Thornton “If a man has no education, he’s got nothing”. As decades pass, Tony changes his name to Thornton Melon and becomes a self-made corporate giant, with a successful chain of plus-size clothing stores and numerous other business ventures. Feeling dejected when his college student son Jason cancels a visit, he returns home to a party hosted by his wife Vanessa. Finally weary of Vanessa’s nasty attitude and adultery, Thornton divorces her, and asks his bodyguard Lou to drive him to Jason’s college campus.

On the campus, Thornton learns from Jason that he’s unhappy with college life. He is a towel boy for the diving team instead of a member, is antagonized by team member Chas Osborne, has no friends except for his roommate Derek Lutz, and intends to drop out. Thornton motivates him to stay in college by deciding to enroll alongside him. Despite Thornton’s lack of academic qualifications, the dean David Martin admits him when he bribes Martin with a donation for a new campus building. Thornton’s bribery earns him the wrath of Dr Philip Barbay, dean of the business school. His displeasure is further exacerbated by Thornton’s canny practical experience clashing with Barbay’s hypothetical theorizing in class, and his romantic interest in Barbay’s girlfriend, the literature professor Dr Diane Turner.