‘Tommy Boy’: Some Favorite Scenes

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When we debuted our Classic Videos section with The Beatles’ “Revolution,” we told you that these clips will come from a variety of categories.

We followed up the Fab Four with the comedic (and singing) talents of Saturday Night Live alums Chris Farley and David Spade from the road comedy Tommy Boy, released on March 31, 1995.

Tommy Boy is a favorite of Best Classic Bands’ founder, who estimates that he and his family have watched it together 115 times.

Farley plays the ne’er-do-well son of Thomas “Big Tom” Callahan, Jr., played by actor Brian Dennehy, the barrel-chested, award-winning actor who died April 15, 2020, at age 81 of natural causes.

In his wide-ranging career, Dennehy portrayed Willy Loman in the classic Death of a Salesman, and appeared in such box-office hits as First Blood, Presumed Innocent, Foul Play, and Cocoon. (He also appeared in 1979’s 10, which featured the breakout role for his future Tommy Boy co-star, Bo Derek.)

Farley, born February 15, 1964, joined SNL in 1990 and stayed for five seasons. For the most part, his tenure overlapped that of Spade’s and the two became close. For Tommy Boy, the two played characters that were consistent with the roles they became known for in the sketch comedy series. Farley is cast as a lovable loser; Spade plays the know-it-all who torments Farley’s character. Not surprisingly, the opposites attract in this road comedy.

Watch the legendary “Fat Guy in a Little Coat” scene

Whether you’ve seen the movie 115 times or, gulp, never, we’re confident that you’ll enjoy this scene. The two are engaged in the time-honored battle of who gets to choose the station on the car radio. When it’s Farley’s “Tommy Callahan” character’s turn, he lands on the Carpenters “Superstar.” “You can change it if you want,” he says. Even though it should come as no surprise what transpires, we laugh out loud every time.

Farley’s character has consistently failed at making sales for the family business. And after an argument that leads to a fight, he and Spade patch things up over lunch at a roadhouse. As “Tommy” explains his ineptness to their waitress, his speech is surprisingly inspiring.

Farley died on December 18, 1997. He was just 33 years-old.

Just for good measure, here’s the trailer. Bo Derek was 38 when the film was released.

Tommy Boy cost a reported $20 million to make and was not a box-office hit, earning $32.7 million. The critics weren’t particularly kind either. Hey, what do they know?

Spade, born July 22, 1964, has published his memoirs, Almost Interesting.

The movie is available to stream or order here.