Tommy Boy

Starring: Chris Farley, David Spade, Brian Dennehy, Rob Lowe, Bo Derek, Dan Aykroyd, Julie Warner
Directed by: Peter Segal
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
1995

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: An incompetent loser (Chris Farley) must fight to save his father's (Brian Dennehy) company from closing down.

Review:

Tim: I've never been a real big fan of Tommy Boy. I admit that it's a decent comedy that is good for a few laughs, but it is certainly not a comedy classic. I appreciate what Chris Farley brought to his films, but I wouldn't consider myself a huge Farley guy, either. When you add it all up, this film is fairly watchable and decently entertaining, but it's not exactly a very good movie.

This film owes just about everything to its two leads. I'm admittedly not a huge Farley guy, but I have to admit he was in rare form here. He was such a physical presence on screen- he had such unlimited energy, it was hard not to get caught up in his presence. I wouldn't say he was a great actor, but he did have impeccable comedic timing. He played Tommy with his faults all on display, and yet, he had this warmth that made you root for his characters despite their limitations. I lament the fact that the world lost Farley so young (only two years after this film was released).

Farley had an incredible partner in David Spade. As he's gotten older, I think Spade has gotten less funny. In his earlier days, and especially paired with Farley, Spade was hilarious. His droll, dry humor is something I really enjoyed here. He played off Farley perfectly, being the straight man to Farley's zany craziness. These two just had such terrific chemistry on screen, and it's their interactions that make this movie worth watching.

The supporting cast is decent. I loved seeing Brian Dennehy as Farley's dad- it was a good casting choice. Rob Lowe was a nice addition to the cast. I always like seeing Dan Aykroyd, but his screen time (and therefore, impact) was limited.

The story is fairly decent, although it's been done before. Farley plays a bumbling loser who is called upon to save his father's company. He faces a myriad of humorous setbacks before eventually fulfilling his potential. It's a story that is predictable, but works well enough to allow the cast to get themselves in humorous situations. The "fat guy in a little coat" scene is pretty classic. There's so many great lines in this film- "I can actually hear you getting fatter," "You know a lot of people go to college for seven years. Yeah, they're called doctors" (maybe my favorite line), and so many more. This is a film that is very funny line-to-line, but as a whole, falls a bit flat.

Tommy Boy is a pretty harmless movie. It's a good example of the kinds of comedies that were rolling out of Hollywood in the mid 90's. I know a lot of people love this film, but for me, it never reached it's fully potential. The film has some funny moments, but just isn't an especially strong film overall.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Black Sheep