The Film

Sometimes nostalgia gets the better of me when it comes to crappy movies, but it seems enough years have passed since my first gleeful viewing of 1996’s Black Sheep, and there’s now no questioning how truly terrible a film this is. It’s a shame too, because Chris Farley and David Spade made the admittedly lowbrow but downright hilarious Tommy Boy only a year earlier. This time around, their sweaty, ne’er-do-well, smarmy, know-it-all rapport is undermined by an embarrassingly bad script courtesy of Fred Wolf, who would go on to pen classics like Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. Farley’s manic energy manages to save a few scenes, but Black Sheep has not weathered the years well.

Farley stars as Mike Donnelly, a bumbling recreation center employee who wants more than anything to help his brother Al (Tim Matheson) win the race for Washington State governor. Unfortunately, Mike can’t help but screw up everything he touches, leading to an embarrassing series of incidents that threaten to derail his brother’s campaign. Looking for a way to keep Mike from the public eye, Al and his campaign manager assign eager lackey Steve Dodds (Spade) to take care of Mike. They hole up in a cabin in the boonies, having to deal with the elements of nature and a deranged G.I. (Gary Busey, playing one level lower of crazy than he actually is) who lives there. Eventually, when Mike thinks he discovers voter fraud, he rushes back to save the day.

Black Sheep does have a few memorable moments – the best is when a high Mike and Steve get pulled over for going 7 m.p.h. – but it’s obvious when good ideas were in short supply, and Farley resorts to simply yelling things loudly. Joke after joke falls flat, dialogue that attempts to be serious is funnier than the jokes, and Spade and Farley never get into the groove their previous work together shows they were capable of.

Article Author: Dusty Somers

Dusty Somers hails from Seattle, and is a journalism student at the University of Oklahoma. He enjoys spending time and watching films with his wife, and looks forward to their imminent return to the great Northwest.

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