Chris Farley was cursed with the tag of being “the next John Belushi.” The two comics had a variety of things in common from their Midwestern childhoods, their heft, tenures at Second City and gigs on Saturday Night Live. Adding to their connection was the fact that they both died at 33 from overdosing on a mixture of cocaine and an opiate. But Farley wasn’t the next John Belushi. He lacked Belushi’s ability to go from loud to sly with a simple eyebrow shift. Farley specialized in playing easily excitable man-boys that flopped all over the place to get a laugh. He was a pie in the face comic. Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley highlights his most manic bits from his time as cast member.
The special opens with Chris as Andrew Giuliani. Before 9/11, Rudy Giuliani made headlines when his out of control son’s antics stole the show at his swearing in ceremony. Chris is perfect as he goes nuts on the stage. He’s got all the ADD elements in his whirlwind antics while stuffed in a little boy outfit. An odd historical note is that Andrew Giuliani would go onto to Duke University where he’d get thrown off the golf team. “Chris & Mom” is a clip from Mother’s Day when Chris introduced us to the woman who gave him all that energy. “Motivational Speaker” is the arrival of Matt Foley. He likes to talk about living in a van down by the river. He’s trying to save David Spade and Christina Applegate from his fate. “Hibernol” is an ad spoof for the ultimate cold season medicine.
“Chippendales” is another of Farley’s iconic sketches. He and Patrick Swayze (Road House) have a bare chested dance off for the final slot in the all male erotic dance unit. Chris is in full force as his gut bounces like a meat Slinky. It’s comedy as he thinks he’s as hot as Swayze. The clip of them in full motion gets played at Carolina Hurricanes games as part of a goal scoring celebration. “Bill Swerski’s Superfans” is a visit with Da Bears guys. Michael Jordan shows up so they are all about Da Bulls. They ask him why he doesn’t play the countries in the Olympics with only Coach Ditka as a teammate. “The Chris Farley Show” with guest Jeff Daniels (Dumb and Dumber). Chris is nervous and asks really bad non-questions.He should have had his own real talkshow. “Bennett Brauer” is a Weekend Update commentary from Chris with his Matt Foley guise. The focus is on his abuse of air quotes.
“Schillervisions” is about hidden camera commercials. Farley isn’t happy when he gets told he is drinking defcaf crystals at a fancy restaurant. A pie fight ensues. “Lunch Lady” is the Adam Sandler song with Chris as the title character. He makes it work with his Bob Fosse moves. “Japanese Game Show” starts nicely enough with Mike Myers as a Alex Trebek host of the series. Janeane Garofalo, Alec Baldwin and Farley are the contestants. Farley’s at a disadvantage as he doesn’t understand Japanese. Baldwin misses a question and cuts off a pinky for the disgrace. Farley’s not excited about his chances of winning. This gameshow is being adapted for summer. There’s four blocks of montages featuring Farley’s highlights. Many the moments include Farley’s exposed rump. He never could find pants that fit. They have his thrilling interview with Paul McCartney. “Focus On Beauty” spoofs the Cher haircare infomercials. Farley drags up to be the creator of the products. It’s funny, but drawn out.
Saturday Night Live: Best of Chris Farley does a fine job of surveying his tenure on the show. You get a complete sense of how his characters were all about getting too excited and flaunting their heft. He wasn’t a Belushi clone although their biographies start and end the same way. He made his own mark on SNL. He perfected the man-child persona in the hit movie Tommy Boy. He’d still be a movie superstar today just on the basis that he was about to be the voice of Shrek. But after learning so much from Belushi, he missed the life lesson about how cocaine and opiates don’t mix. Hopefully the next Chris Farley will make not of the tragic consequences.
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The show was recorded on video so it’s a tape transfer. Resolution quality is fine. The audio is Dolby Digital stereo. Sound levels are good although there are times the actors don’t quite get to the right spot for the microphone. It’s Closed Captioned.
Dress Sketch (2:02) is a Weekly Update segment slashed before the live show. Farley’s smoking while talking about what he said to a guy in the supermarket. It’s easy to see why Lorne yanked it.
Photos (1:08) are stills from the show.
Outtakes (3:40) are various flubs covered with ad-libs and cast crack ups. Mostly it’s Sandler unable to maintain a straight face. This is what live TV is all about. Or were these taken from the dress rehearsals?
TV Appearances include a visit with (6:24) Conan O’Brien as Matt Foley. Conan was so youthful. Jay Leno (5:29) has him on the Tonight Show to promote Coneheads. Jay looks so different before his battle to the death with Conan. Chris does a lot of flopping around on the floor. He mentions that Bob Odenkirk (Mr. Show & Breaking Bad) created Matt Foley.
Family Album (1:22) collects snapshots from his early years. He came from a huge family.
More Sketches includes the infamous “Schmitts Gay.” This was on The Best of Adam Sandler, but it’s worth repeating. There’s Matt Foley’s Halloween appearance, Gap Girls, Bil Sweski’s Quiz Masters and a Weekend Update bit with him as Bennett Brauer. “Quiz Masters” features Da Bears Guys in a Jeopardy Setting. The 1993 winner of the Super Bowl was the Dallas Cowboys and not the Bears.
Saturday Night Live: Best of Chris Farley collects the legacy of the last funny heavyweight on the show. The DVD captures him at his most out of control best as an overgrown child. His Chippendales dance off made him a comedy legend. This DVD needs to go next to the Blu-ray of Tommy Boy.
Lionsgate Entertainment presents Saturday Night Live: Best of Chris Farley. Starring: Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, David Spade, Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks. Running Time: 106 minutes. Released on DVD: Feburary 1, 2011.
