Black Sheep (1996)

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.

Director:

Penelope Spheeris

Writer:

Fred Wolf

Stars:

Chris Farley, David Spade, Tim Matheson

Cast

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

Storyline

Comedy about the prospective Washington State Governor Al Donnelly whose only stumbling block on the road to power is his embarrassing younger brother Mike. To keep him out of mischief, Al forces one of his aides, Steve Dodds to keep an eye on him during the election. However, this is easier said than done...

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Plot Keywords:

clumsiness | embarrassment | political campaign | slapstick comedy | politics | 

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Taglines:

There's one in every family.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lorne Michaels later said that the film was "an act of desperation by Paramount." The studio had under-promoted Tommy Boy (1995), and was now looking to cash in on the same comedy formula. At the time, Michaels had just finished contentious battles with the studio over the script for Wayne's World 2 (1993), and the animosity between the two camps spilled over into Chris Farley's contract with Paramount. Although Farley's agent lined up possible roles in The Cable Guy (1996) (for which he was offered $3 million) and Kingpin, the studio wanted another buddy comedy with Farley and David Spade.

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Goofs

While it may be easy to prove that dead people are still on the voter rolls, there is no way to prove which candidate they voted for.

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Quotes

[Mike is pretending to be a cop, Steve is pretending to be a prisoner]
Steve: Ro-ads. Ro-ods.
Mike: Quiet back there! I've taken enough guff from you for one day!
[turns to state trooper]
Mike: Raving psycho! Butchered 400 chickens and screwed a beagle. I'm taking him back to Nevada where he's wanted for banging horses!

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Connections

References Child's Play (1988)

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Soundtracks

Lady Marmalade
by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan
Performed by LaBelle
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Chris Farley falling over alot.

Reviews of this film were less than favourable but since I enjoyed the Farley/Spade partnership so much in Tommy Boy I thought I would check this one out as well.

Farley does alot of falling over and generally self abuse in this one, for instance when he tumbles down a mountain side and then gets up and says "What was that all about?".

The bit where the bunk bed collapses on top of Spade during the hail storm and the "Power to the People" speech at the rock concert are hilarious.

Most viewed this film as inane and childish - one reviewer I distinctly remember said that he would rather have Des O'Connor sing him the phone book than watch this again - but I found myself laughing many times.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 February 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Sheep

Filming Locations:

S. Myrtle Ave. & W. Lime Ave., Monrovia, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,593,609, 4 February 1996

Gross USA:

$32,417,995

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$32,417,995

Company Credits

Production Co:

Broadway Pictures, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1