Black Sheep (1996)

Director:

Penelope Spheeris

Writer (WGA):

Fred Wolf (written by)

Release Date:

2 February 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Sport

Tagline:

There's one in every family.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Wetting Pants | Critically Bashed | Marijuana | Alcoholism | Brother Brother Relationship

Cast

Chris Farley	...	Mike Donnelly
David Spade	...	Steve Dodds
Tim Matheson	...	Al Donnelly
Christine Ebersole	...	Gov. Tracy
Gary Busey	...	Drake Sabitch
Grant Heslov	...	Robbie Mieghem
Timothy Carhart	...	Roger Kovary
Bruce McGill	...	Neuschwender
Michael Patrick Carter	...	Scott Colleary
Boyd Banks	...	Clyde Spinoza
David St. James	...	Motorcycle Cop
Skip O'Brien	...	State Trooper
Branden R. Morgan	...	Fan
'Gypsy' Spheeris	...	Pocket Pool Lady
John Ashker	...	Jim Blaine

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude language and humor, drug-related material and sexual innuendo.

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Denmark:16 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #33985) | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Buckley, Washington, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Film critic Gene Siskel said that this was the first film he walked out on in 26 years of reviewing movies.

Goofs:

Continuity: Mike's hair when he begins to leave the room in which he was smoking with the Jamaicans. While leaving, his hair is done. In the next shot, as he actually leaves the room, his hair is a mess.

Quotes:

Drake: I could go over to your mama's, and light a small fire in her panties!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Punk

Quite possibly the late Chris Farley's funniest movie.

Black Sheep is one of the two films in which Chris Farley stars alongside the constant sarcasm of David Spade (the other being Tommy Boy, which is almost as funny), and the results are childish but endlessly amusing. Farley plays Mike Donnelly, the younger and nuttier brother of Al Donnelly, who is campaigning to be governor of Washington. Mike's seemingly constant screw-ups, which cause serious havoc during his brother's campaign, provide for the majority of the comedy in the film. There can be no mistake that this is entirely slapstick comedy, but it succeeds very well because Farley can pull it off so well. The hopelessly geeky Spade balances out Farley's hyper-activity with his collected but nerdy performance, leaving us with an odd couple that could be called a slightly less mature version of that of the late Walter Matthou and the later Jack Lemmon (a moment of silence for Matthou, Lemmon, and Farley, would be in order about now…).

It is strange that such an immature film could deal so extensively with a relatively serious subject as politics and still manage to keep the slapstick successful, especially since there are moments of real emotion in the film. Gary Busey appears in a small but very effective and amusing role as Sgt. Drake Savage, a military-minded guy who ultimately seems to have a heart of gold. The interactions between him and Spade are some of the funniest moments in the film, along with the constant humor that seems to always be emanating from Farley. The cabin scene with Mike and Steve (Spade) is especially amusing ("I got dibs on top bunk!").

I am not going to attempt to say that Black Sheep is a truly intellectual film, nor is there anything particularly amazing about the script or direction, but the comedy is excellent, there can be no mistake about that. I mean, Tommy Boy and other movies, like Major Payne, are no cerebral workouts either, but the comedy is there. That's the reason to watch these movies, and to their credit, you can tell that just by looking at the cover. You probably won't learn anything or see the portrayal of many serious issues in a movie like Black Sheep, but you will laugh heartily and you will remember it for that.