TOMMY BOY
A film review by Will FitzHugh
Copyright 1996 Will FitzHugh
I saw this one on video and I consider it an ominous sign when 6 previews are tacked onto the beginning of the tape. Is the movie that short? Is anybody who rents this a sure bet to see just about anything? Apprehensions aside, let's continue (the answers to those questions, by the way, are 'no' and 'probably').
'Tommy Boy' is Chris Farley's first major role after smaller, moderately amusing parts in 'Airheads' and 'Wayne's World'. Here he plays a fat, dumb recent college graduate who gets a do-nothing job at his father's (Brian Dennehy) auto parts factory. There's some amusing stuff of his last days at college; drinking, smoking, passing out and running into things. If Jim Carrey is the Jerry Lewis of the 90's (a stupid comparison, in my opinion) then Farley is the Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin (two guys put together, get it?) of the, um, well, let's put it this way: he's got the hair of Nicholas Cage, the body of John Candy and the face of, uh, well, forget it.
So his father marries Bo Derek whose son is Rob Lowe who actually turns out to be her husband. Dad has a heart attack at the wedding (the prospect of spending the rest of his life staring into Bo's blank stare probably pushed him over the edge) and Bo and Rob's plan to take over the business goes on the fast track. Tommy is forced to take over his father's sales route to save the business and Farley and weenie David Spade hit the road. See, the trip is not only a literal journey to riches but a spiritual quest for self-discovery (a la 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: the Series' or Dennis Hopper's wistful 'Flashback') which leads them to the brink of failure and then to ultimate success. Plus Farley gets hit with a two-by-four and runs into some more stuff and there's several witty masturbation jokes thrown in.
Did I mention the obligatory love interest? Luckily, the director (Peter Segal, whose only other film was 'Naked Gun 33 1/3') has the good sense to leave any love-making off-screen (which is bad enough for those of us with vivid imaginations). Or maybe it was cut to satisfy Jack 'Off' Valenti, along with the bong-inhalation shot that was clipped almost to nothing. Whatever. The final analysis reveals that Farley has too much talent to waste in watered-down John Landis-type retreads like this. He should be playing Puck in Kenneth Branagh's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' or Baron Harkonnen in the David Lynch version of 'Dune' (can you imagine? David Lynch doing 'Dune'. How could it fail to be cool?) or a replicant in 'Blade Runner II' (now that my first choice, John Candy, is no more). Don't go for the quick kiddie cash, Chris. Pursue your artistic vision. Scare people.
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