Black Sheep

source: Black Sheep

A few years ago, I read a little bit of "The Chris Farley Show," a book written by his brother Tom that chronicled the life of the SNL star through the perspectives of his family and friends. There was a brief section on the making of Black Sheep that revealed some surprising information: After Paramount was pleased with the success of Tommy Boy, they wanted to quickly produce and release a follow up. They pulled Chris Farley away from doing other projects (The Cable Guy was one of them) so he could work with them again. Fred Wolf, who rewrote Tommy Boy with director Peter Segal, was forced to turn in a script in a short deadline. Had he missed the deadline, Fred would have been sued. Penelope Spheeris was hired, but there was a problem: she loved Farley, but hated his friend, David Spade (although they reunited to make Senseless). Penelope didn't find him funny. Fred Wolf appeared on the set during shooting with ideas to spruce up the movie, but Penelope Spheeris kept kicking him out. And thus, we have Black Sheep, a comedy about a perpetual screw-up who accidentally sabotages his brother's chance of being Washington's next governor, even while under the supervision of the candidate's aid. While it entertained me throughout, it just made me wish it was better. Chris Farley was, as usual, hilarious with his blunt but always funny method of slapstick comedy. Whether it was him rolling down a hill, walking into a tree branch or crashing an MTV Rock the Vote event, he made me laugh pretty hard. However, it's quite clear that Spheeris' hatred for David Spade resulted in tampering with a key element: the comic chemistry he had with Farley. There are moments of that chemistry here, but for the most part Spade is sidelined; he mainly there to just react to Farley's mischief. As for the rest of the cast, they do a good job. Gary Busey is a riot as Drake Sabitch (tee hee), a paranoid war veteran. Christine Ebersole was amusing as the corrupt Governor Tracy and Tim Matheson was good as the gubernatorial candidate Al Donnelly. In closing, Black Sheep was fun to watch. Had it not been a rushed product of a studio who wanted a quick buck and a director who didn't really want to make it but did for the paycheck (that's what it said in the book!), the movie could've been just as funny (if not funnier) than Tommy Boy.

A gubernatorial candidate (Tim Matheson) hires a wormy special assistant (David Spade) whose only job is to make sure the candidate's well-meaning but incompetent brother (Chris Farley) does not ruin the election. Film critic Gene Siskel stated that "Black Sheep" was one of only three movies he ever walked out on in 26 years; Siskel stated several times that he did not respect Farley and thought of him as a terrible actor, stating at one point "I hate Chris Farley, just rubs me the wrong way. I knew John Belushi, and he's no John Belushi." Siskel's colleague Roger Ebert also hated the film, calling it "not only one of the worst comedies I've ever seen, but one of the least ambitious; it doesn't even feel like they're trying to make a good movie". That really sums it up. People compare this film to "Tommy Boy", and they should. It is very much the same two characters, just in a different situation. If anything, maybe Farley's character is a bit less dumb here... but probably not. There is little to love, although a moment or two (like the roof scene) get a couple laughs.

Chris Farley was a genuinely funny bloke capable of making people laugh to the point of tears. David Spade is one of the great wimp/smart-guy actors of this generation, and teaming the two of them up formed a comedy duo that could have been bigger than any other in history (had in not been for Farley's death). Spade had a heap of respect for Farley, in a recent interview when asked about losing Chris Spade said something along the lines "he was a great guy to work with, and now I guess I'm on my own". This movie was exceptionally hilarious, Some unforgettable scenes such as the head-banging in the car and the house collapsing after the roof was taken off by the wind. I have to give a ten-er, is was brilliant and displays two of the great comedy-actors doing what they do best in roles they best portray. See it peoples!!!!!

Spoilers may appear. I must say I have no idea how this movie has an average of four on IMDb.com. This movie will completely tear you up over and over with side-splitting antics and great jokes. I read a review on another site that said, in comparison to Tommy Boy, Black Sheep has no plot and is nowhere near as funny. Wrong! The plot may be just as shallow, but the comic antics in this movie shoot way above Tommy Boy. For instance, Chris Farley and David Spade enter the cabin and find that it is infested with one single bat. They go crazy and wreck everything in the cabin, and Chris Farley's character assumes "It's Ozzy Osbourne!" Okay, maybe you have to watch it to get it. The plot isn't as bad as people make it out to be, but the storyline does tend to get a little foggy in places. However, the extensive appearance of crude humor and excellent acting make this movie a classic comedy. If you like hilarious movies, then this is definitely one to see.

Fred Wolf wrote this because he was contractually obligated to. I turned it off because I has so no such obligations.

GREAT comedy!!!!! I loved Tommy Boy with Chris Farley and David Spade in, and this is fantastic too! Great storyline too! Basically Al Donally is running for Governer and he wants to keep his accident-prone brother Mike (Farley) out of the way! So Al's new top adviser Steve Dodds (Spade) tries to keep Mike under wraps until after the election! Needless to say everything goes pear-shaped and you don't have to be a genius to work out the ending. But this is funny, light-hearted stuff and I laughed out loud loads of times throughout the movie! Great story, Great stars, Great film!

Reviews of this film were less than favourable but since I enjoyed the Farley/Spade partnership so much in Tommy Boy I thought I would check this one out as well. Farley does alot of falling over and generally self abuse in this one, for instance when he tumbles down a mountain side and then gets up and says "What was that all about?". The bit where the bunk bed collapses on top of Spade during the hail storm and the "Power to the People" speech at the rock concert are hilarious. Most viewed this film as inane and childish - one reviewer I distinctly remember said that he would rather have Des O'Connor sing him the phone book than watch this again - but I found myself laughing many times.

Black Sheep is one of the two films in which Chris Farley stars alongside the constant sarcasm of David Spade (the other being Tommy Boy, which is almost as funny), and the results are childish but endlessly amusing. Farley plays Mike Donnelly, the younger and nuttier brother of Al Donnelly, who is campaigning to be governor of Washington. Mike's seemingly constant screw-ups, which cause serious havoc during his brother's campaign, provide for the majority of the comedy in the film. There can be no mistake that this is entirely slapstick comedy, but it succeeds very well because Farley can pull it off so well. The hopelessly geeky Spade balances out Farley's hyper-activity with his collected but nerdy performance, leaving us with an odd couple that could be called a slightly less mature version of that of the late Walter Matthou and the later Jack Lemmon (a moment of silence for Matthou, Lemmon, and Farley, would be in order about now…). It is strange that such an immature film could deal so extensively with a relatively serious subject as politics and still manage to keep the slapstick successful, especially since there are moments of real emotion in the film. Gary Busey appears in a small but very effective and amusing role as Sgt. Drake Savage, a military-minded guy who ultimately seems to have a heart of gold. The interactions between him and Spade are some of the funniest moments in the film, along with the constant humor that seems to always be emanating from Farley. The cabin scene with Mike and Steve (Spade) is especially amusing ("I got dibs on top bunk!"). I am not going to attempt to say that Black Sheep is a truly intellectual film, nor is there anything particularly amazing about the script or direction, but the comedy is excellent, there can be no mistake about that. I mean, Tommy Boy and other movies, like Major Payne, are no cerebral workouts either, but the comedy is there. That's the reason to watch these movies, and to their credit, you can tell that just by looking at the cover. You probably won't learn anything or see the portrayal of many serious issues in a movie like Black Sheep, but you will laugh heartily and you will remember it for that.