What’s this all about? I turn 30 on Sept. 26, 30 days from the start of this series. To celebrate, I’m going to watch one movie a day for 30 days and spend 30 minutes writing about each one. This post is about 1995. Click here for the original newsletter in the series. Other entries: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
“Tommy Boy” doesn’t work without Chris Farley. That may have been obvious at the time of its release, but it’s very apparent now. I’m pretty sure you could get anyone to deliver David Spade’s acidic sarcasm, but watching the way Farley brought pathos, heart and humor into a movie about selling brake pads is nothing short of extraordinary.
Farley was a study in contrasts: a hard partyer who said John Belushi was his idol, but who also faithfully made it to mass on Sunday. A seemingly easygoing “Saturday Night Live” cast member who was always game to do anything to make anyone laugh, but who was extremely hard on himself in private.
Farley appeared in nine movies before his untimely death in 1997, but just three of them — “Tommy Boy, “Black Sheep” and “Beverly Hills Ninja”— featured him as a lead. “Tommy Boy” is the best of those three by far, probably because Tommy Callahan is the closest fictional character to Farley’s actual persona. It’s an outsized performance full of physical comedy and self-deprecation but shaded with a lot of sadness and approval-seeking. And, again, he managed to do that in a movie about selling brake pads that also features a sight gag where Rob Lowe electrocutes himself by pissing on an electric fence.
If he had managed to conquer his drug and alcohol demons, there’s no telling what his career might have looked like. He was supposed to have voiced “Shrek” before he died; what a different movie that would have been. Maybe he would have gone on to do more dramatic roles. I truly think the man could have won an Oscar.
Farley brought so much joy to so many people, including me and my brother whenever we watched this movie. (“Brothers don’t shake hands, brothers gotta hug!” has been a part of our lexicon for a while.) Watching this movie for the first time as a preteen was like a whole new world opened up. Here was a movie with “adult” humor, but I got the jokes. My sense of humor at the time was all over the place, but the two constants were sarcasm and self-deprecation, so of course, I identified with Richard and Tommy.
But as I grew out of being sarcastic all the time and stopped making fun of myself so much, this movie endured, and it was because of Farley’s heart behind the jokes.
Watching it today, I was worried it wouldn’t hold up. Some of it doesn’t— Tommy’s big plan at the end involves strapping road flares to himself and faking a suicide bombing, and it’s played for laughs — but a lot of it does, and that’s a testament to Farley’s commitment to the bit. It made me laugh then, and it makes me laugh now.
Up next: Start thinking about your favorite scary movie. We’re going to be talking about 1996’s “Scream.”
Letter of Recommendation
Farley’s old “SNL” castmate and current Netflix magnate Adam Sandler wrote a really touching song about him for his latest standup special:
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