Tommy Boy

The late Chris Farley teams up with his Saturday Night Live pal David Spade for this road comedy about a perpetual screwup, Tommy Callahan Jr. (Farley), who tries to save the auto-parts store owned by his late father (Brian Dennehy). The latter's dry-witted number cruncher (Spade) reluctantly joins the loud, awkward, but well-meaning Tommy in the mission, which is threatened behind the scenes by his dad's widow (Bo Derek). The film is sporadically funny, but as with most movies starring TV comics, some vital energy in the stars seems unnaturally suppressed. Still, the film is worth a visit if you want to turn off your brain awhile. --Tom Keogh