Tommy Boy (1995)

March 31, 1995

Tommy Boy is a 1995 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Segal, written by Bonnie and Terry Turner, produced by Lorne Michaels, and starring former Saturday Night Live castmates and close friends Chris Farley and David Spade. This was the first of many films that Segal has filmed with former SNL castmates.

It tells the story of a socially and emotionally immature man (Farley) who learns lessons about friendship and self-worth, following the sudden death of his industrialist father.

The film was shot primarily in Toronto and Los Angeles under the working title "Rocky Road". Tommy Boy grossed $32.7 million on a budget of $20 million making it a financial success. The film received mixed reviews from critics.Since its release, Tommy Boy has become a cult film and been also successful on home video.

Storyline

After seven years at college, friendly but dim-witted Thomas R. "Tommy" Callahan III barely graduates from Marquette University and returns to his hometown of Sandusky, Ohio. His father, industrialist and widower Thomas R. "Big Tom" Callahan Jr., gives him an executive job at the family's auto parts plant, Callahan Auto. In addition to the new job and office, Big Tom reveals that he plans to marry Beverly Barrish-Burns, a woman he had met at a fat farm, and that her son, Paul, will become Tommy's new stepbrother. However, Big Tom dies from a sudden heart attack during the wedding reception. After the funeral, doubting the future of the company without Big Tom, the bank reneges on promises of a loan for a new brake pad division and seeks immediate payment of Callahan Auto's debts. Tommy suggests a deal: he will let the bank hold his few inherited shares and house in exchange for the bank giving time to sell enough brake pads to prove the new division's viability. If enough brake pads are sold by the deadline, the bank will grant the loan. Tommy then sets out on a cross-country sales trip with Big Tom's scornful assistant, Richard Hayden.

Meanwhile, sales manager Michelle Brock notices Beverly and Paul kissing romantically. They are revealed to be married con artists with criminal records. Instead of eventually suing for divorce and taking half of Big Tom's estate, Beverly has inherited controlling interest in the company. To turn that into cash, she seeks a quick sale to self-described "auto parts king" Ray Zalinsky. On the road, Tommy's social anxiety and hyperactivity alienate several potential buyers. The lack of any progress leads to tension between Tommy and Richard, culminating in a fistfight. Afterwards, Tommy persuades a surly waitress to serve him after the kitchen has closed and Richard suggests he use his skill at reading people to make sales. The two make amends and quickly reach their sales goal. However, Paul sabotages the company's computers, causing sales posted by Michelle to be either lost or rerouted. With half of the sales now canceled, the bank (now backed by Beverly and Paul) decides to sell Callahan Auto to Zalinsky. Hoping that they can persuade Zalinsky to reconsider, Tommy and Richard board a plane to Chicago posing as flight attendants. In Chicago, they get a brief meeting with Zalinsky, but he tells them he wants only the reputation connected with the Callahan brand and will close down the company and lay off its workers.

Tommy and Richard are denied entrance to the Zalinsky board room since Tommy has no standing. As they wallow on the curb in self-pity, Michelle quickly arrives with Paul and Beverly's police records. Tommy devises a plan: dressed as a suicide bomber by using road flares, he attracts the attention of a live television news crew and, along with Michelle and Richard, forces his way back into the board room. Back in Sandusky, Callahan workers watch the drama on television. In a final move of pure persuasion, Tommy quotes Zalinsky's own advertising slogan, that he is on the side of the "American working man." As the television audience watches, Zalinsky signs Tommy's purchase order for 500,000 brake pads. Although Zalinsky says that the purchase order is meaningless as he will soon own Callahan Auto, Michelle shows the police records, which includes Paul's outstanding warrants for fraud. Since Beverly is still married to Paul, her marriage to Big Tom was bigamous and therefore never legal. Thus, all of Big Tom's controlling shares actually belong to Tommy, the rightful heir. Since Tommy does not want to sell the shares, the deal with Zalinsky is off, and since Tommy still holds Zalinsky's purchase order, the company is saved. Paul attempts to escape but is arrested. Zalinsky admits that Tommy outplayed him and invites Beverly to dinner. Back in Sandusky, Tommy gives a speech at the plant saying he will take his presidency of Callahan Auto seriously to keep the workers steadily employed.

Sailing on a lake, Tommy posthumously tells his father that he will continue his work and that he has started a relationship with Michelle. He says goodbye and wishes if Big Tom can hear him in the great beyond, he would appreciate some wind. The wind picks up immediately, causing the boom to strike Tommy's head. Tommy then sails to shore to meet Michelle for dinner.

Sound Effects Used

• Hollywoodedge, Alarm 4 Contemporary TE012301
• Hollywoodedge, Bull Roar Medium Pers PE022301 (Used in high and low pitches for the deer when it roars as it escapes Tommy and Richard's car.)
• Hollywoodedge, Bullet Ricochet OffH PE096801/Hollywoodedge, Ricochets Various TE029905
• Hollywoodedge, Punch Face Hit 4 Sharp PE100401
• Hollywoodedge, School Bell Short Rin PE193101
• Hollywoodedge, Telephone Rings Bell PE170601
• Sound Ideas, BIRD, OWL - SINGLE OWL HOOTING, ANIMAL
• Sound Ideas, COW - SINGLE MOO, ANIMAL 01
• Sound Ideas, COW - SINGLE MOO, ANIMAL 02
• Sound Ideas, COW - TWO MOOING, ANIMAL 01
• Sound Ideas, COW, AMBIENCE - CATTLE DRIVE: LARGE GROUP, ANIMAL, CATTLE
• Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - CARTOON RICCO 04