“It doesn’t even feel like they’re trying to make a good movie.” —Gene Siskel 1996

The name Chris Farley always brings a smile to my face and sting in my heart. He was a bright, shining star, the life of the party, the consummate buffoon. I loved what he did. Graduating from SNL to movie star with fellow alum David Spade in the mega-hit Tommy Boy, Paramount Pictures were caught unprepared at its success and scrambled to get another Farley/Spade team-up to theatres post haste, this time marketing it and them accordingly. What we got was an attempt to manufacture a modern-day Jerry and Dean formula: Black Sheep.

Farley plays Mike Donnelly, the good natured but klutzy younger brother of Governor candidate Al (Tim Matheson). Mike’s working on the campaign trail but proves to be a walking disaster area, hindering his brother’s changes and running awry of the campaign manager, Roger Kovary (Timothy Carhart), who wants him gone. But Al insists he stays and assigns one of his campaign aides, Steve Dodds (David Spade), as a chaperone (or babysitter to get him out of the limelight.) Of course, both Al and Steve underestimate the range of Mike’s well-meaning but cataclysmic faux pas, and the nefarious tactics of his rival Evelyn Tracy (Christine Ebersole) and soon his campaign looks all but lost. But at the 13th hour (yes, Mike is always a day late and a dollar short), Mike and Steve discovered the election has been doctored and race to save the day… after.

Yeah, this was a rush job, forced upon most of the major contributors who didn’t believe in what they were doing. Farley and Spade killed it in Tommy Boy, so they xeroxed an underdog plot with a tissue thin new veneer and told them to do what they did last year. It shows. The jokes are one note, contrived set pieces with no thought. The characters range from one note to no notes at all. Spade in particular is lifeless. Gary Busy perhaps bucks the trend in this to turn in a memorably nutty character. Wayne’s World director Penelope Spheeris snores her way through a formulaic turn behind the camera. It’s just not a great vehicle for anyone to start a new trend, like the Jerry and Dean movies of yore. And it didn’t.

Farley had very little to work with in this. The physical bits ‘designed’ for him smack of a desperation he didn’t need. He was starting his meteoric rise and capable of far more than Mike Donnelly. He proves this with the emotions he rings out of the pencil thin character he’s given.

This was a misstep by a studio that could have derailed an emerging star. Sadly, Farley derailed himself.

The late critic Gene Siskel notoriously walked out of this film, believing it unworthy of his time. I won’t go that far. I’ll just conclude that Black Sheep is not Farley’s (or anyone involved’s) finest moment on camera.

Home Video Distributor: Paramount
Available on Blu-ray - April 25, 2017
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English; English SDH; French; Portuguese; Spanish
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.0; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.0; French: Dolby Digital 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A/1

Video

This is a solid 1080p presentation from Paramount. Colours are natural and pleasing to the eye. It’s a light and fluffy movie, replete with blue skies and suburban surroundings, that are all presented cleanly. Skin tones are consistent. Night scenes and Stadiums handle the blacks and highlights with equal panache. It certainly looks better than its sum total.

Audio

A mostly terrific Dolby TRUE-HD 5.0 mix. They strangely did not include an LFE (base track), but it nevertheless delivers a well-balanced mix that gets the job done. Dialogue is centred, environmental effects sell the set pieces effectively. It’s just a little light on the low frequencies, but not a deal breaker. It’s a perfectly serviceable surround mix for a physical comedy.

Supplements:

NIL. Bare bones disc, static menu, no slipcover.

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

• None

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade

MPAA Rating: PG-13.
Runtime: 87 mins
Director:Penelope Spheeris
Writer: Fred Wolf
Cast: Chris Farley; David Spade; Tim Matheson
Genre: Comedy
Tagline: There's One in Every Family
Memorable Movie Quote: "That's one small step for man! One giant... I have a dream!"
Theatrical Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Official Site:
Release Date: February 2, 1996
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: April 25, 2017
Synopsis: A gubernatorial candidate hires a wormy special assistant whose only job is to make sure the candidate's well-meaning but incompetent brother doesn't ruin the election.