Black Sheep Review
by Christophe Boone (Red_Rock_West AT jhu DOT edu)February 5th, 1996
BLACK SHEEP
A film review by Christophe Boone
Copyright 1996 Christophe Boone
Paramount Pictures
Directed by Penelope Spheeris
Produced by Lorne Michaels
CAST
Chris Farley, David Spade, Tim Matheson, Gary Busey.
Opens nationally Friday, February 2nd.
I can't decide which was more annoying--the fact that this movie was so horrible or that the two middle-aged women behind me laughed incessantly throughout the movie? Why should people laughing the whole time bother me? Well, for one reason, and for one reason only...
This movie was not funny.
Chris Farley and David Spade team up again for TOMMY BOY REDUX, I mean, BLACK SHEEP. Penelope Spheeris (WAYNE'S WORLD) directs this latest in a series of bad Lorne Michaels, "Saturday Night Live" extensions. Farley plays an earnest brother of a gubernatorial hopeful who just wants to do what he can to get his brother elected. Unfortunately, bad luck seems to follow Farley around. Enter David Spade as one of the candidate's advisors who volunteers to try to keep a lid on Farley until after the election. Of course, Spade has no control over Farley's luck. In fact, some rubs off on him, with one of the few inspired moments in the score when the electric guitars start to play "Dueling Banjos" from DELIVERANCE. The guitars are inspired. The scene isn't.
So, every strange mishap that could happen does happen, including bumping into Gary Busey as a psycho ex-Marine still fighting Vietnam in his mind and living in an abandoned school bus with a 27 inch TV. Okay, this is where I lose it. This movie is horrible. Gary Busey's enormous, buck teeth usually are the most annoying thing on the screen, but they take a back seat this time to the drivel that passes as a screenplay. Throughout the entire film, I laughed once, when Farley does his own thing on stage at a Rock the Vote concert. This is the Chris Farley that made me laugh on Saturday Night Live. His entire performance of 60 seconds in WAYNE'S WORLD as the overinformed security guard was better than his turn in BLACK SHEEP. Occasionally, the script tries to become dramatic, making Farley's character pathetic, so we should care for him. Whatever.
Then, there is David Spade. I almost forgot he was even in this movie. Spade has absolutely no shining moments in this film. I used to think his "Hollywood Minute" on SNL was funny. Then, his new "Spade in America," (or "I only have time to do 2 minutes in between my busy film schedules") started to get on my nerves. Then, in BLACK SHEEP, his "I've got a little present for you, it's in my pocket," routine was funny when my friend did it to me...in seventh grade (said with Chandler-like inflection). When schticks like that are all they have to put in a screenplay, it's not worth writing. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the studios from producing this first draft of a not-so-funny comedy. Spade's character could disappear from this movie, and you'd never know it. That's a problem if he is one of the headliners.
Unfortunately, Lorne Michaels has a hold of the executives' attention at Paramount for some reason, and they let him produce this redundant material that isn't even suitable for an SNL sketch. Granted, WAYNE'S WORLD was funny, but the slew of extended skits recently (TOMMY BOY, BILLY MADISON, STUART SMALLEY SAVES THE WORLD, IT'S PAT, how many of you caught those last two?) have proven, maybe with the exception of TOMMY BOY, that this stuff just isn't successful. But just slap "From the Director of WAYNE'S WORLD," on the poster, and it's in the bag...or maybe not. Remember THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES? They tried the same thing. It didn't work.
Despite my lack of amusement throughout all 87 minutes of this flick, on the whole, the crowd liked it. Maybe they enjoy predictable humor, or maybe they were just smoking crack. Either way, don't waste your money. Maybe check it out when it hits video, but I'd wait until HBO decides to show it every night for a month, kind of like WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S. Oh wait, I hope they don't do that. I couldn't handle the thought of another TOMMY BOY, I mean, BLACK SHEEP. I keep doing that. I wonder why.
A footnote from the author: The best part about this entire film was grabbing a free t-shirt that was tossed into the crowd and stealing it from the two women behind me who thought they had it. Sorry, ladies. Justice is served. The second best thing was shredding this movie in this review.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
