|
Black Sheep is Final Testament of Comedy Duo |
|
|
|
Written by BARRY BRECHEISEN
|
|
Thursday, 28 May 2009 |
From the very early days of silent screen, we’ve had the good fortune to have captured some of the best and funniest comedy duos of all time. From Laurel and Hardy to Abbott and Costello, the world has laughed with their outrageous antics and has made the planet a far better place. Thanks to Hollywood they have been preserved on film for us to watch forever. In the last decade one of those comedy teams that sadly only had a short life, is the duo fun of Chris Farley and David Spade.
| | |
Black Sheep
|
 Entertainment
 Art
 Special Features
Directed by Penelope Spheeris
Written by Fred Wolf
Starring Chris Farley, David Spade, Gary Busey, Tim Matheson
Rated PG-13
|
| | |
Farley left the world way too early but before he did he left us with comedy magic. The two, who met while performing on Saturday Night Live, only had enough time to make two films. Both films did well at the box office and quickly established the two as the next generation of comedy teams. Tommy Boy was released earlier this year on Blu-ray and their follow up Black Sheep is now available as well looking flawless in HD.
Al Donnelly (Tim Matheson) is on his way to becoming the next Governor of Washington. However he may have one thing against him, his brother Mike Donnelly (Chris Farley). No matter how hard he tries, Mike manages to make a mess of everything he touches. From crashing a campaign truck into a movie theater marquee during Al’s announcement speech to getting photographed drinking with underage kids, Mike is good at making his brother look bad. In fact, Al’s component, the incumbent Evelyn Tracy (Christine Ebersole), see’s the opportunity to take advantage and realizes Mike is their ace in the hole. Al’s manager, Roger Kovary (Timothy Carhart), tries to encourage Al to get rid of his brother but family loyalty wins out. Roger succeeds in encouraging them to get a babysitter to come in and keep an eye on the brother. Enter Steve Dodds (David Spade), whom is promised a place in Al’s cabinet if he can take on the task. A task that Steve will soon learn is harder than it looks.
Black Sheep is really the companion piece to their first film, Tommy Boy. It has all the same set ups and comedic fun with even a similar plotline. Many consider Tommy Boy superior but I would argue they both have their charm and fun. Plus, the added bonus of Gary Busey’s crazy renegade former military nut job character raises the bar in my book.
Black Sheep is now out on Blu-ray and is worth watching and picking up if you don’t already have it in your library. The one sad thing here is it has absolutely no special features, not even a theatrical trailer. Which is quite sad really. Where is the commentary track with say the director and of course David Spade? Where is the retrospective of the making of the film? This is the last film of only two that starred the comedy duo and there has to be some great stories. Hell I’d just take a crazy commentary track with just Busey. Can you imagine the stuff that would come out of his mouth? Oh well, maybe for the next special expanded edition with three more minutes of unreleased footage.
Black Sheep isn’t Tommy Boy but it’s better than critics originally gave it credit. Farley and Spade were a great team and it’s a shame that the world lost Chris Farley before we could see what else the two could do. Black Sheep stands as a testament of their final work and it’s as crisp and beautiful as it’s ever going to get on Blu-ray.
Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
