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Tommy Boy poster

Tommy Boy

97 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Chris Farley Thomas R. "Tommy" Callahan III
David Spade Richard Hayden
Bo Derek Beverly Burns-Barrish
Julie Warner Michelle Brock
Dan Aykroyd Ray Zalinsky
Brian Dennehy Thomas R. "Big Tom" Callahan Jr.
Rob Lowe Paul Barrish
Sean McCann Frank Rittenhauer
Zach Grenier Ted Reilly
James Blendick Ron Gilmore
Lorri Bagley Woman in Pool

Tommy Boy | The Rewatchables

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Producer credits not yet identified.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Tommy's first sales meeting

In the discussion (21)
Approx. transcript time · 00:29:05Read transcript
  • The scene concept is amorphous for this movie, which is built from two-to-two-and-a-half-minute bits; the list could have run to 20.
  • The opening credits are phenomenal: the little kid running, shifting to older Farley graduating and falling, with comedy inside the credits; the others agree it shows who the character is right away and speeds up the usually boring credits.
  • Tommy's first visit with his dad in hard hats, the kung fu, Spade's dismissiveness and the new office set up that Spade's character will hate him; the 'It's called reading' exchange is cited.
  • A personal favorite, though maybe not most rewatchable: Tommy on the boat with Julie Warner, starting with real acting about his father's death, the boat tilting, the heckling kids, and her threat to them.
  • Farley proves a surprisingly good actor there, but he would be scarier than Julie Warner to the hecklers.
  • The boat scene matters enough that it returns for the ending.
  • Julie Warner is listed at 5-2 but seems 4-9 or 4-10, prompting draft-measurement jokes and an elevated-curb observation.
  • Tommy's first sales meeting falls apart as he reenacts a car accident with 'new guy's in the corner puking his guts out'; anyone who doesn't laugh is dead inside.
  • A six-year-old's first viewing named the sales meeting his favorite part; the scene is cringeworthy as their only chance at a sale while he sets model cars on fire and Spade shoots darts at him; it is called that speaker's favorite, most rewatchable.
  • Watching Spade's horrified reactions is a fun way to watch the movie; the puking line is iconic.
  • The sales meeting leads into the gas-station door scene and 'What'd you do?', tied to a son denying he knocked over a wrestling glass; a 'Benny Boy' sequel joke follows.
  • A roughly ten-minute stretch is submitted as one rewatchable run: Fat Guy in a Little Coat, the Carpenters sing-along, the roadside fight and the diner with the waitress.
  • Of those four bits, the Carpenters 'Superstar' sing-along is a favorite, with the song called the ideal choice.
  • The later sing-along callback is loved, and the road-trip stretch is a favorite, especially the waitress deadpanning 'God, you're sick' after the biscuit bit. — Sean Fennessey
  • Small moments also stick: Richard picking Tommy up at the airport, the suitcase, the M&Ms in Richard's car; the movie is like 65 sketches stitched together, and the diner scene is named a favorite.
  • The diner is the pivotal moment where Richard sees Tommy can sell, and it could have been hit harder; still, someone so pathetic you have to give them money is a good idea.
  • Tommy catching Richard watching the woman in the pool and the repeated jokes about Buddy Wackett and the Yankees are a favorite.
  • As the hosts tell the story, Fat Guy in a Little Coat began as a bit Farley did in the SNL offices that Spade had to endure, then became a song in the movie; it is joked to become the country's post-quarantine anthem.
  • The diner scene is probably the pick, with a shout-out to the climax: Zelensky signing for 500,000 brake pads and the factory cheer gave chills on rewatch. — Sean Fennessey
  • The first sales meeting with the new guy puking his guts out is picked as a favorite that gets that speaker every time; the same speaker notes 'Sal and I had the same'.
  • Setting the model cars on fire is picked as cringeworthy and physically beautiful. — Cousin Sal

What’s Aged the Best?

Opening credits; 'Luke, I'm your father' fan gag; Callahan family portraits; Rob Lowe's performance; the board-meeting old lady; Tommy and Richard singing; the bees gimmick; Spade's hair jokes; the lost-virginity speech; Brian Dennehy

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:45Read transcript
  • The opening credits, the 'Luke, I'm your father' bit with the fan, and the Callahan family portraits with Farley in drag hold up as subtle comedy.
  • Rob Lowe's performance has aged best; he was good in anything SNL adjacent, a comedy side unpredictable in the 1980s.
  • Also listed: the old lady in the board meeting, Tommy and Richard singing, the bees gimmick, the jokes acknowledging Spade's weird hair, and the speech line about losing his virginity to R.T.'s daughter.
  • Bo Derek seemed past her prime then though she was only 39, with Lowe, Farley and Spade 31; pairing her with Dennehy, 57, was accepted but kissing Lowe as a supposed son was strange; the casting is still called nailed.
  • Her haircut is flagged as aged the worst for making her look older, like Alice from The Brady Bunch.
  • Dennehy is incredible and overqualified, a stage legend whose Death of a Salesman history makes him a callback great salesman; serious actors going toe to toe with the bits add credibility, and he is a dead ringer for Farley. — Sean Fennessey
  • An anecdote: interviewing Dennehy in Winnipeg in 2001 in brutal cold for an ESPN Bobby Knight TV movie, he got choked up about Farley; his IMDb has a lot of wins though he never became famous-famous.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Sandusky, Ohio setting; Bo Derek stunt casting; Flashdance jokes; sneaking onto a plane as flight attendants; Herbie Hancock joke; rushed brake-pad reversal

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:51:43Read transcript
  • The Sandusky, Ohio setting is a tough beat that jumps off the screen; the sign and a few spoken mentions could have been changed, as films have done with the Twin Towers.
  • Bo Derek's stunt casting was a big deal in 1995, when she had been like Marilyn Monroe for two years; the equivalent now would be a long-absent Britney Spears, and it no longer translates.
  • Jokes about Flashdance have become progressively less funny; producer Craig is joked not to know what Flashdance is.
  • Sneaking onto a plane as flight attendants is impossible post-9/11; where they were flying from and to is unclear.
  • Too few cameos from the SNL universe is raised, but rebutted: not overloading it makes a better, weirdly sincere movie, and Aykroyd's part drives the story.
  • The Herbie Hancock joke is lost on kids who did not get it. — Cousin Sal
  • Unsure about Aykroyd's character, with a Coneheads voice and a Mel Kuyper Jr. look, the country-club lunch invite at the end, and the finale where a presumed robber with flares gets to a camera crew.
  • Everyone watching local news during a workday and a fake bomb being shrugged off are nitpicked, but it's a comedy.
  • After the whole road trip to sell brake pads, the reversal back in Sandusky happens too quickly to process. — Sean Fennessey
  • A reply adds that drunk Lowe presses two buttons on a computer and everything goes to hell immediately.
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:29Read transcript
  • The stealth pick is the bald, bulgy-eyed board member ('Zach Grinier'), from Fight Club, Curb Your Enthusiasm season 1 and Devs, with about 75 TV shows; he is the winner without question.
  • He has one of the best lines, filmed at the wedding saying he'd like a piece of Beverly, and is chased off with 'you little prick'.
In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:50Read transcript
  • Farley could win for five scenes, which is what makes him great.
  • Aykroyd is picked and seconded: he reportedly filmed his scenes in two days, with strange hair and a Chicago-meets-Coneheads accent, and his motivation is unclear; he definitely wins.
  • As the host sees it, this was when Aykroyd moved to a new career phase and resurfaced doing Bob Dole on SNL.
  • Aykroyd works as a cameo guy, as in Grosse Pointe Blank; here he is sillier, but the weirdly political, Rust Belt movie needs his Zelensky character as the evil corporation face opposed to what Farley believes in. — Sean Fennessey
  • He was not evil enough and should have been 20 percent more Vince McMahon; the movie has no clear villain beyond one loudmouth foreman.
  • Per the host's read of his IMDb, Aykroyd stayed busy with about four productions a year from 1994 to 2001, which changes perceptions of him.
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:06Read transcript
  • Aykroyd could make a case for the heat-check award and arguably wins it.
  • Uncertain who wins; Aykroyd could since he jumps off the screen, though it is not a favorite performance.
  • Rob Lowe is suggested, with the eligibility question that he has only about four scenes; the cow-tipping scene is funny.
  • If eligible, Rob Lowe is declared the winner.

Apex Mountain

Chris Farley; David Spade; brake pads; "Holy schnikes"

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:34Read transcript
  • Chris Farley is at Apex Mountain, with 100 percent agreement.
  • David Spade is a yes; younger viewers know him as the Grown Ups guy, and like Mike and the Mad Dog the two must go together.
  • Julie Warner is proposed but countered with Doc Hollywood and its emerging-from-the-water moment; Tommy Boy has lived on more; Michael J. Fox is taller than her there.
  • The Midwest is proposed and doubted, with the Packers' Super Bowl the next year and Wisconsin mentioned.
  • Brake pads get a 100 percent yes.
  • He could not describe what a brake pad does. — Bill Simmons
  • 'Holy schnikes' is suggested and liked; Farley reportedly took it from John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, which the movie resembles; 'son of a' is used about a dozen times.