Tommy Boy Movie Review

Tommy Boy (1995)

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Written by: Bonnie Turner & Terry Turner
Directed by: Peter Segal
Starring: Chris Farley, David Spade, Brian Dennehy, Bo Derek, Dan Aykroyd, Rob Lowe
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
After an auto-parts tycoon dies, his immature, underachieving son teams up with a snide accountant to try and save the family business.

Verdict
It's a silly movie and that's the point. Farley carries the movie, though he can only take the generic script so far. He's the oafish heir to a company and the unlikely savior. It's the barest of plots that only serves to set up Farley's comedic scenes, but only a couple of those are worth watching and they don't make up for the rest of the movie.
Skip it.

Review
Farley passed away in 1997 at only thirty-three. He got his start on Saturday Night Live (1975) in 1990.

This was one of those big 90s comedies that I just never happened to see despite hearing a lot about it. This opens with the hapless Tommy as a kid. Nothing goes his way. Then this skips to Tommy (Chris Farley) graduating college. It only took him seven years. He's getting a job in his father Big Tom's company despite no qualifications. That rankles Richard (David Spade), Big Tom's assistant.

Tommy's dad is getting married which means a step mom and brother for Tommy, but a series of events put Tommy and Richard pitching car parts in an attempt to save his father's company. Tommy's pitches fall flat, but he gets a maybe. In trying to close that deal, he breaks the objects on the client's desk and then sets them on fire to illustrate how good his brake pads are. As you might suspect the client declines.

Chris Farley, David Spade play Tommy, Richard

While Tommy and Richard don't get along, they are both bound by trying to save the company. The unknown hurdle they face is that Tommy's step-mom Beverly (Bo Derek) and step-brother Paul (Rob Lowe) are con artists. They're more of a couple than anyone first suspected.

The pair cross the country in Richard's pristine 1967 Plymouth. Of course the car gets more damaged with every passing scene. By the end of the movie, it doesn't even resemble a car.

Tommy finally gets a sale which means Beverly and Paul start sabotaging the company to force a sale. In a last ditch effort Tommy and Richard pose as flight attendants to get to Chicago and pitch to a big distributor. Tommy changing in the airplane bathroom is one of the funniest scenes.

While their last, big sales ploy fails, Tommy discovers Beverly and Paul's secrets. He has a big plan to out the con artists and save his father's company in one more attempt. Farley's physical comedy is the best part of the movie, but it's not enough to make this watchable.