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Tommy Boy (Movie Review)

Chris Farley and David Spade teamed up for the 1995 road-trip comedy Tommy Boy, which turns 25 today. Director Pete Segal remembers the film as one of his most unforgettable experiences.

Despite its crude and immature gags, this road-trip comedy is still an entertaining watch. The film’s best scene features new sales rep Tommy Callahan (Farley) going on a sales trip with his dad’s scornful assistant Richard Hayden (Spade).

What is Tommy Boy?

Tommy Boy is an iconic nineties film that spawned an entire franchise and became a classic that never gets old. Graham Collins, a sales leader, grew up watching it for laughs, but it also made him think about his own early career journey in sales.

Collins says that the movie is a cautionary tale about how to handle a difficult situation with customers, especially when it comes to selling products. In one of the movie’s most memorable scenes, Tommy tries to sell brake pads to a bunch of older clients at his father’s company.

At first, he makes a fool of himself by smacking his head on machinery, talking out of turn and trying to sand a piston with a hammer — but as the movie progresses, he learns that it’s OK to be wrong, even when it’s for the right reason. He also starts to take people more seriously as a salesman.

In the end, he manages to get Zalinsky to buy 500,000 brake pads by showing his passion for his product and his willingness to follow through on the deal. This is a lesson that many new sales reps should take to heart, Collins said.

The movie’s other major character, Richard (David Spade), is the type of sales manager Collins calls a “bad high-school coach.” He criticizes his sales reps and doesn’t show them how to improve, he said. He also doesn’t take them out for lunch or coffee.

But once Richard teaches Tommy genuine sales advice, their relationship improves considerably and they work together very well. The movie is a great reminder that sometimes rules are meant to be broken, experts should be ignored and regulations need a full reset.

The Story

If you’re looking for an entertaining and heartwarming movie to watch this Christmas, then Tommy Boy is the perfect choice. It features one of the best comedic performances ever given by Chris Farley and David Spade. And even though it was released 25 years ago, it still feels fresh and relevant today.

Set in Sandusky, Ohio, Tommy Boy follows a young man (Chris Farley) who inherits Callahan Auto Parts from his father. But the company is facing financial troubles and is about to shut down. The only hope for the town is if Tommy can save the company.

In order to do this, he must learn the ropes of sales and become more than just a door-to-door salesman. He must learn to communicate effectively and find his voice.

As he learns how to sell his father’s brake pads, he discovers that the key is to be comfortable with his own voice and do what comes naturally. He also realizes that his snide attitude doesn’t help him get anywhere in life, and that it’s time for him to change.

Fortunately, he’s got the support of his friends and family. Richard and Michelle — both of whom Tommy has known since childhood — are able to push him out of his comfort zone and help him to succeed.

It’s a small miracle that Tommy manages to save Callahan Auto and eventually become the new president of the company. He also becomes a good friend to Richard and even enters into a romantic relationship with Michelle. But most of all, Tommy proves that his family is more important than anything else in his life. And that he’s got the courage to make changes when they’re needed.

The Cast

The cast of Tommy Boy includes some well-known names from the movie and television world. It is also a film starring two of the late 1990s most popular and most recognizable characters, comedians Chris Farley and David Spade, as a pair of hapless traveling salesmen who get themselves into the most nutty (and hilarious) situations.

When a successful businessman and entrepreneur dies suddenly, his socially awkward heir apparent inherits a struggling auto parts factory. The company is on the brink of bankruptcy, but a last-minute marketing campaign with the help of his long-suffering assistant Richard, a chubby tycoon in his own right, proves that there’s life in the old dog yet.

Using road flares and other clever tactics, the pair manage to snag some lucrative new customers, and with them, a shiny new plane ticket to the big city. While in Chicago, they also happen to snag the largest purchase order in the history of Callahan Auto, but when their flight is canceled by an unruly passenger, their efforts are for naught.

The film isn’t exactly a winner for its clunky execution or the quality of its sexy-to-the-eye CGI, but it does make some very funny and genuinely feel-good moments. If you’re a fan of the genre, this may be one of the most entertaining movies about the business of selling cars since it touches on all the high points in the automotive industry from manufacturing to service and retailing. There’s also an excellent soundtrack featuring songs from a few of the most famous rock bands of the last several decades.

The Plot

Tommy Boy is the wacky tale of a dimwitted heir to an auto parts company trying to save it from bankruptcy. He hires mild-mannered Richard Hayden (David Spade) to help him. After Big Tom (Brian Dennehy) suddenly dies, Tommy and Richard set out on a cross-country sales trip in an attempt to sell half a million auto parts to save the company from being sold to Ray Zalinsky.

The film is full of comedy, with Farley and Spade doing their best to make a fool of themselves at every turn. They smack their heads on machinery, talk out of turn and even try to sand a piston with a sander only to have it shoot out of the machine.

However, there are also serious plot points in Tommy Boy. For one, Big Tom and his wife Beverly (Bo Derek) are actually married con artists with criminal records. They planned to have Beverly marry Big Tom and then divorce him for half of his estate.

Second, Paul (Rob Lowe) is a computer fraud who tries to sabotage Tommy's progress. He does this by sabotaging the company's computers and causing sales manager Michelle Brock (Julie Warner) to post incorrect sales figures. This causes half of the company's customers to cancel their orders and force the company to sell to Zalinsky.

Finally, Tommy manages to make a deal with Zalinsky but the deal is cut off when Michelle finds out that Paul has outstanding warrants for fraud. She reveals this to the television audience and explains that Beverly's marriage was bigamous, which voides her inheritance.

While Tommy Boy may be a little cheesy, it's a funny movie that doesn't hold back. It's a great showcase for Farley and Spade, who had made only three movies together ("Coneheads," "Tommy Boy" and "Black Sheep") but this one is their greatest collaboration.

The End

Amidst a crisis at Callahan Auto Parts, Tommy Callahan (Chris Farley) and Richard Hayden (David Spade) are offered the opportunity to go on a sales trip across the country to try to save the company. While the pair may be a bit less than ideal candidates for this adventure, their willingness to go beyond what they think they can handle in order to save the business is a testament to how much Tommy truly cares about Callahan.

During their trip, they encounter a number of obstacles along the way. First, they must bluff their way through an investigation by the police. They also have to deal with a prankster named Ray Zalinsky, who attempts to buy Callahan Auto Parts.

In the end, they manage to convince Zalinsky to purchase all of Callahan’s brake pad stock in front of a news camera, a maneuver that he deems symbolic but that Tommy believes is key to saving the company. It ends with him telling Callahan’s employees that “the door is always open to you,” a moment that many critics felt was a little too optimistic for the story.

However, as Tommy Boy’s final scene shows, the go-get-em attitude Tommy displays is a good reminder of how important it is for a sales rep to keep his eyes open for opportunities even when they seem unlikely. This goes a long way to encourage innovation and risk-taking, says Dan Collins, a sales coach in Chicago.

Throughout the movie, Richard is a negative and sarcastic character, a type of sales manager Collins calls a "bad high-school coach." He criticizes Tommy's sales efforts, blames him for failures and punishes him without offering any constructive criticism. But as Tommy shows improvement in his sales work, Richard softens his approach and starts to see him for the potential he has inside him.

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