Tommy Boy

Do you have any movies that just make you laugh. Not just the first time you see them but each time. This movie starring Chris Farley and David Spade is that movie for me. It is silly. It is certainly not possessing of much to improve ones intellect.

It is however very funny. Farley's brand of physical humor either plays well or it does not. As much depends on the viewer and his sense of humor.

In the movie Farley plays Tommy Callahan. After graduating from Marquette in just seven years he returns home to work for the family business Callahan Auto Parts. His Dad Tom Callahan Jr installs Tommy the third, Tommy Boy, as an executive. He also introduces him to his new wife to be Beverly Barish played by Bo Derek. She has brought her brother Paul to the company as well. Played delightfully by Rob Lowe we soon find out she is not his sister but that they are lovers, con artists looking to steal half the company by marrying big Tom.

Everything changes when Big Tom dies. To save the company Tommy Boy along with his Dads assistant Richard, a hugely funny David Spade, embark on a trip to sell half a million brake pads to convince the bank that the business remains viable.

Tommy is not a good salesperson. He is clumsy and cannot say the right thing. Some of the scenes have become iconic. The road scene with the car being destroyed and perhaps best of all the airplane scene always make me laugh.

In the end we have a happy ending. And Tommy Boy is a hero. The final scene with Tommy on a becalmed lake talking to his Dad and hoping for a breeze is actually pretty moving for a movie that had been so silly. Just to show we should not be too serious even about that in the end Tommy is hit on the head by the sail when the wind grabs it. That works too.

I love this movie.