Themes: Nothing Goes Right, Sibling Relationships, On the Campaign Trail
Main Cast: Chris Farley, David Spade, Tim Matheson
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 87 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Handsome, smooth-talking Al Donnelly (Tim Matheson) has everything going for him. A politician, he is engaged in a heated gubernatorial race with the feisty Governor Tracy (Christine Ebersole), a tough old bird who doesn't hesitate to play hardball with opponents. Unfortunately for her, things are looking good for Donnelly. Fortunately she finds his Achilles' heel with his young brother Mike Donnelly (Saturday Night Live alumnus Chris Farley), a fat slob gym teacher and hopeless imbecile who only wants to win his more successful sibling's respect. Unfortunately all he does is embarrass poor Al to death. In desperation, Al assigns the sardonic and prissy Steve Dodds (David Spade) to keep Mike under constant surveillance. The real trouble begins when Tracy's aids try to frame hapless Mike for arson. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Review
As capable as Chris Farley was of going big -- and as frequently as he was asked to do so -- it's easy to forget that he could also tug at a viewer's heartstrings during his more delicate, emotional moments. Tommy Boy, his first collaboration with David Spade, got that balance right, making for an amiable underdog comedy and a surprise hit. This explains why basically the same ingredients were gathered together a year later for Black Sheep, a prime example of the theory that lightning doesn't strike twice. The big scenes are 25 percent dumber, the thoughtful scenes are 25 percent less touching, and the result is a movie that's only half as good. Farley is great at coming across as well-meaning, and the point of Black Sheep is supposed to be that he gets tripped up in his good intentions while trying to help his brother (Tim Matheson) campaign for governor. But Fred Wolf's script, his first of a smattering of undistinguished comedies, makes it difficult to keep forgiving Farley's Mike Donnelly, whose gaffes seem far more the result of his reckless foolishness than circumstantial bad luck. This culminates in a finale that's off the charts in terms of idiotic behavior, and finally gives the film its permanent separation from reality. The chemistry with Spade is not as good here either. Literally along for the ride in both films, which feature more than their share of wacky automobile shenanigans, Spade contributes less and irritates more. Black Sheep does get a funny supporting performance from the inimitable Gary Busey as an unhinged redneck veteran, but it's not enough. By following this up with Senseless, the appropriately titled Marlon Wayans vehicle that also featured Spade, director Penelope Spheeris became further distanced from the reflected glow of her work on Wayne's World. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Gary Busey - Drake Sabitch; Timothy Carhart - Roger Kovary; Christine Ebersole - Governor Tracy; Toby Scott Ganger - Tough Kid; Grant Heslov - Robbie Mieghem; Jean Speegle Howard - Elderly Couple; Karen Kahn - Anchor Woman; Bruce McGill - Neuschwander; Annie O'Donnell - Election Worker; Kathleen O'Malley - Mrs. Oneacre; Patrick Pankhurst - Donald Tracy; Patricia Place - Woman at Party; LaRita Shelby - Reporter; Tucker Smallwood - Election Analyst; Michael Patrick Carter - Scott Colleary; Skip O'Brien - State Trooper; Laura Weekes - TV Reporter; John Farley - Bouncer; Chris Owen - Hal Shope; Boyd Banks - Clyde Spinoza; James Noah - Mayor; Fred Wolf - Ronald Forte; John Ashker - Jim Blaine; Kevin Farley - Bouncer; David St. James - Motorcycle Cop; Andrew Breymann - Hillbilly Kid; Michelle Burkette - Police Woman; Luke Dickinson - Andrew Tracy; William Howell - Rastafarian; Austin Kottke - Tough Kid; James Everett Lewis - Carl; Dylan Lucas - Ricky; Matt David Lukin - Mudhoney; Mark Arm - Mudhoney; Branden R. Morgan - Fan; Daniel Joe Peters - Mudhoney; "Gypsy" Spheeris - Pocket Pool Lady; Steve Neil Turner - Mudhoney; Drew Wilson - Elderly Couple
Credit
Chris Cornwell - Art Director, Eric Newman - Associate Producer, Deborah Aquila - Casting, Jane Shannon - Casting, Dinah Minot - Co-producer, Jill M. Ohanneson - Costume Designer, Matt Earl Beesley - First Assistant Director, Artist Robinson - First Assistant Director, Penelope Spheeris - Director, Ross Albert - Editor, C.O. Erickson - Executive Producer, Robert Weiss - Executive Producer, William Ross - Composer (Music Score), Peter Jamison - Production Designer, Daryn Okada - Cinematographer, C.O. Erickson - Producer, Lorne Michaels - Producer, Robert Weiss - Producer, Linda Spheeris - Set Designer, Willie D. Burton - Sound/Sound Designer, Steve Maslow - Sound/Sound Designer, Shane Dixon - Stunts, Fred Wolf - Screenwriter
This is the last film that David Spade and Chris Farley co-starred in and is often unfavorably compared to the 1995 film Tommy Boy. In fact, famed film critic Gene Siskel stated that Black Sheep was one of only two movies he ever walked out on in 26 years[2] (Siskel stated several times that he did not like Farley and thought of him as a terrible actor).[3] In both films, Farley plays the lovable doofus and Spade plays his wise-cracking acquaintance. In one of his Spade in America sketches on Saturday Night Live, Spade (with the help of Teri Hatcher) made fun of Black Sheep, saying, "maybe you saw it the first time, when it was called Tommy Boy."
The film begins when Mike Donnelly (Chris Farley) is driving an advertisement truck to support his brother Al Donnelly's (Tim Matheson) campaign for Governor of Washington; his competition being incumbent Evelyn Tracy (Christine Ebersole). After Mike is chased by dogs while driving the truck, he crashes into a local movie theatre and gains great disspleasure from the local people. Al's manager, Roger Kovary (Timothy Carhart), advises him to get rid of Mike, but Al decides to have Mike and some other guy working for him to campaign for him in town. In the end, the man chosen to take Mike around is Steve Dodds (David Spade), who in return gets a spot on Al's staff. As Steve goes to pick up Mike, he accidentally hits a military hermit named Drake Sabitch (Gary Busey), who ends up stealing his car.
When Mike tries to stop underage kids from drinking, pictures make it look like he was supporting them, leading to his termination from the county recreation center. While packing up, he runs into a pair of thugs who set fire to the rec center, while a photographer takes incriminating pictures of Mike at the scene of the fire. However, the first cop to arrive at the scene is Robbie Mighuem (Grant Heslov), a friend of Mike's who lets him and Steve off the hook. The two take off in Mike's car, and per Kovary's instructions head for a shack in rural Garfield County. After a few incidents (Mike stapling his own hand while trying to hang a poster on a tree, Steve getting sprayed with a fire extinguisher by a bunch of local kids, and Mike falling down what could be the tallest mountain in Garfield County) they call it a night.
The next day, Steve and Mike run out of fliers, so Steve tries to get cell phone reception to order for more; while looking for a place with reception, Steve stumbles upon the home of the aforementioned Drake Sabitch, an old crashed school bus with several house implements outside and inside, such as a TV, a hammock, a grill, several weapons and more. While trying to find a high-ground to get reception on his phone, Steve accidentally loosens a rock in a pile of stones and unstables a huge boulder atop a hill overlooking their shack. concert, the two men start playing checkers and when Mike screams at Steve for the fact that he "NEVER MOVES HIS BACK ROW! EVER!", the unstable boulder on top the hill rolls down and almost completely destroys their cabin. Mike goes to the Mudhoney concert where he is looking for Al (where Mike stirred up trouble by screaming "kill whitey" while on stage) they try and watch a debate between Al and Governor Tracy, Steve and Mike sneak into Drake Sabitch's home and watch it on his TV, when Steve goes out for a leak, he is attacked by Sabitch, but is saved by Mike, who beats Sabitch in unarmed combat. Sabitch is impressed by Mike's fighting skill and becomes friends with both men.
Governor Tracy, in hopes of sabotaging Al, posts the pictures of Mike at the community center fire, ruining Al's run and making Tracy win the election. Mike notices that the voting results are wrong, since the numbers on the vote count state that there are 1800 voters in Garfield County, when in fact there are only 1500. Mike and Steve go to the Garfield County social center, where they get the names of the voters of the county in the recent election; there, Steve discovers that over half the people who voted for Tracy were dead for over ten years, proving Tracy had rigged the elections. To get this to the people, Steve and Mike take Robbie the cop's squad car, and go at full speed to Seattle, where Governor Tracy is having a victory party.
At the party, the team appears during Tracy's victory speech and the police try to arrest Mike for the arson of the community center for which is accused, however, Mike snatches a gun from one of the cops and pretends to hold Steve hostage, while Sabitch controls the crowd by threatening them with an RPG. Mike climbs up to the podium and reveals Tracy's election fraud, overturning the election results, making Al the election winner and having Tracy ousted for fraud.
Three months later; Steve is Al's new assistant (since Al had fired his former assistant, Roger, en route to the party Mike was holding hostage), Mike has got his job running the community center back and Al has improved the crime rates in Washington. As Al and Steve get into a jet to go to a meeting, Mike's jacket gets caught in the jet's door and he is dragged along the air when the plane takes off and the movie ends.
Cast
Chris Farley as Mike Donnelly, The main protagonist. An incompetent buffoon, he helps his brother win the election as governer of Washington.
David Spade as Steve Dodds, Mike's friend and campaign manager who is more sophisticated than Mike. He is the other protagonist.
