"Tommy Boy" may be the most generic comedy I've ever seen. It's not really a movie, but more of a 98 minute-long sit-com. Sometimes it's funny, but in a dumbed-down way.
Chris Farley stars as Tommy Callahan, an idiot manchild who is about to inherit the family auto parts manufacturing company (idiot child heir - generic comedy plot #1). His dad is the president of the company and wants Tommy to take over when he retires, but he's doubts Tommy's smart enough to handle the job. Mr. Callahan is also marrying a beautiful woman who has a suspicious son (the mysterious fiancˇe - generic comedy plot #2).
We also meet Richard (Spade), the smartass young manager who handles everything and doesn't want to be bothered with having to work with idiotic Tommy (the smartass assistant - generic comedy plot #3). Of course Tommy's father does marry the beautiful mistress, but he also dies on the same day. Due to his death the company starts to crumble financially. If they can't sell a half million brake pads within three weeks they'll be forced to sell to an out-of-town distributor (the monetary deadline - generic comedy plot #4). So Tommy and Richard set off on a cross-country trip to sell the brake pads themselves and single-handedly save the company (the road trip - generic comedy plot #5).
Slapstick comedy was invented and perfected by Charlie Chaplin, but that was because he was making silent movies without dialogue. Modern films [should] depend on dialogue for humor, not people getting hit in the groin with and walking into walls, etc. And that is what we get with this film, which seems like nothing more than a live action version of "The Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote." After a while the slapstick and total stupidity become predictable and repetitive. Even the one-liners are only a little funny.
Even though the slapstick element is stupid, it's still kinda fun to watch Farley who relishes in his silliness. To show a customer how important his brake pads are he uses expensive model cars and acts like a 5-year-old, screaming and yelling and smashes the cars and sets them on fire. In another scene he runs from the police screaming, "Killer bees are stinging my flesh off!" Stuff like this is funny at the time, but in retrospect, that's not intelligent comedy.
It's not that "Tommy Boy" is or isn't funny, it's just not a good film to begin with. Had it been more original it would have been OK, but what we get is at least watchable.
Party animal Tommy Callahan (Chris Farley) is definitely a few cans short of a six-pack. But after seven years, Tommy s finally earned his diploma--an...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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