BLACK SHEEP

"BLACK SHEEP"
(1996) (Chris Farley, David Spade) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Moderate	*Minor	Moderate	None	Moderate

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	*Minor	None	Moderate

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Mild	Minor	Minor	Extreme	Moderate

QUICK TAKE:: A man is assigned to watch over the "black sheep" brother of a candidate for the Governor of Washington state.

PLOT:: Mike Donnelly (CHRIS FARLEY) is stupid, but welling meaning little brother to Al Donnelly (TIM MATHESON) who happens to be running for Governor of Washington state. Mike makes the campaign aides nervous, so they assign fellow worker Steve Dodds (DAVID SPADE) to watch over Mike and keep him out of trouble. This includes a long stint out in the wilderness where they encounter Vietnam vet Drake Sabitch (GARY BUSEY) who thinks the war is still raging in the Washington State woods and they also discover a voter registration conspiracy leading back to incumbent Gov. Tracy (CHRISTINE EBERSOLE), a mean, cutthroat woman. While Mike looks like he's ruining his brother's chances, in the end he saves the day.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Unfortunately yes. If they've seen Farley and Spade's previous film, "Tommy Boy," or are familiar with these two actors from TV's "Saturday Night Live" they'll want to see this.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For crude language and humor, drug-related material and sexual innuendo.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: TIM MATHESON plays the only decent role model in the bunch and isn't on the screen that often. The rest of the cast ranges from mean and nasty (CHRISTINE EBERSOLE) to dangerous and crazy ( GARY BUSEY) to just plain, stupid and obnoxious ( CHRIS FARLEY) and ( DAVID SPADE).

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 0 out of 10: This is one of the worst movies of all time. The story exists essentially to allow Farley and Spade to move from one bad sketch to another as the plot just flips and flops here and there. The problem is none of it's funny. We'll admit, we've laughed at dumb, juvenile humor before, but this one (where humor revolves around sex with animals and a scene where Spade has peed on himself, etc...) makes all of those comedies seem very sophisticated and well written. The acting stinks, the plot stinks, the movie stinks. It gets a big fat 0 out of 10. Don't see this or you'll be sorry you sent money back to the studio reinforcing them to make more horrible films like this.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: Beyond the fact that this is a horrible film (referring to the acting, directing, writing, etc...) there are several objectionable things included. One scene is supposed to be funny as Mike grabs a loaded gun and holds it to Steve's head to make him seem like he's his hostage. Other scenes include drug use (marijuana), references to sex with animals, moderate profanity (including 1 "f" word), and lots of "slapstick" violence. If you still think you'll let your kids see this, read through the category listings first and then make up your mind.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: An elderly lady whacks Mike with her cane when he over zealously loads her groceries into her car. She states he " must be all hopped up on crack cocaine."
Mike is seen having a beer with some local teens who are also smoking pot. They hand Mike a joint (but he isn't seen smoking it). Later he's seen chanting "...shooting, snorting, popping, drinking..." and such with the kids.
One of Gov. Tracy's aides stirs a mixed drink.
At a rock concert, Mike walks in on some reggae band members who are smoking pot. They offer him some but he refuses. Later, he's seen drinking beer with them. When he addresses the concert crowd, he acts "high" stating that he could use some cupcakes and says, "...and you KNOW what I'm talking about..." (referring to the increased appetite one has while "high").
The guys get high from nitrous oxide that escapes from canisters in the trunk of a police car they've borrowed. Mike states "I'm stoned."
People drink at Gov. Tracy's celebration party.

BLOOD/ GORE: Mike fakes head butting a kid and then has a bloody forehead but quickly reveals that it's just ketchup.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Gov. Tracy's aides burn down a rec. center and frame Mike for it to tarnish his brother's bid for the governorship.
A man (who took photographs of both the men responsible for the rec. center fire as well as Mike looking guilty as he ran out) meets with the governor about getting money for the photos or else he'll publish them.
Gov. Tracy's aide tells Mike that his brother calls him an idiot when he's not around (which isn't true).
It's found out that Drake stole Steve's car.
Gov. Tracy is a mean, nasty, and manipulative person to everyone around her and orders her staff to do all sorts of illegal things (burning down a building, altering voter registration records, etc...) in order to insure her electoral victory.
Mike breaks a window so that he and Steve and can break into the county offices to check the voter registration records.
Mike and Steve flee from the police by activating the nitrous oxide boosters in the back of their borrowed police car.
Gov. Tracy is referred to as a "witch."

FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES: None.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Explosives/Mines: Set off by Mike and Steve as they walk onto Drake's property.
Machine gun: Used by Drake to threaten Steve and then to shoot his car full of holes.
Handgun: Mike grabs a cop's gun and holds it to Steve's head as he fakes having him as his hostage at the Governor's mansion.
Sniper rifle: Used by a police sniper to aim and shoot at Mike (but misses).
Rocket Launcher: Held by Drake to keep the police at bay while Mike explains the Governor's illegal activities.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Mike grabs a cop's gun and holds it to Steve's head, faking that he's his hostage.
Phrases: "Sucks," "Idiot," "Moron," "Shut up," "Screw that," "Sucker," "Pissed," "You little fart," and "Bozo."
Mike fakes head butting a kid and then has a bloody forehead but quickly reveals that it's just ketchup.
Steve gives Drake "the finger."
Some local boys shoot Chris with a fire extinguisher.
Steve refers to going to urinate as "I'm gonna go take a squeege."

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There is some minor "fake" suspenseful music in one or two scenes.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 1 "f" word, 6 "s" words, 18 hells, 13 "ass" words, 6 damns, 3 craps, 1 slang term for male genitals (the "d" word), 1 SOB, and 10 uses of "Oh my God," 5 of "God," 4 of "Oh god," 3 of "Jesus," 2 each of "My God," "Oh my Lord," "For God's sake," and "Good God," and 1 use of "God damn" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Several dogs chase Mike who's driving a campaign truck and he yells back to them, "Do you think this truck's in heat?"
In a hyped up tirade, Mike mentions "hookers" and "whips and chains" in no particular context.
Steve is nearly run over by Drake who then threatens him and states that he "can go to your momma's and start a fire in her panties."
An older woman, seeing Mike with his hands in his pockets asks him, "What are you doing? Playing pocket pool there?" and later states, "You've got a little chubby (erection) there."
Mike's butt crack is seen while he works on a car.
Mike finds a "Playboy" magazine that Steve is sleeping with.
When pulled over by a real cop, Mike (who's acting like a cop) states that Steve is his prisoner and that he was arrested for " banging horses" and because he "screwed a beagle."
As Mike tells of Tracy's wrong doings he says, "She's been screwing us -- now I'm going to screw her." (He then corrects himself).
At the end of the movie Mike falls on top of Tracy and gets stuck between her legs. He screams out in pain and thrusts here and there as he tries to get up (making it look like they're having sex -- and the next day's paper headline says "Donnelly screws Governor.")

SMOKING: A man lights up a cigarette right before setting fire to a rec. center.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: It's mentioned that a new kid's parents got a divorce and he had to go and live with his grandmother.
Gov. Tracy's aide tells Mike that Al calls him an idiot when he's not around.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: How anyone could have given the green light to this, one of the worst movies ever made.

VIOLENCE: Mike recklessly drives his campaign truck and runs into a ladder, just misses several cars (one of which has its window shattered by his falling speaker horn), and finally lodges under a theater marquee.
Steve is nearly run over by Drake who then threatens him and states that he "can go to your mommas and start a fire in her panties." Steve gives him "the finger."
An elderly lady whacks Mike with her cane when he over zealously loads her groceries into her car. She states he " must be all hopped up on crack cocaine," and she and her husband drive off, unaware that his tie is stuck in the car and they drag him along behind them for quite some way.
Gov. Tracy cuts down a large tree (while meeting with lumberjack constituents) and it lands on top of a table nearly hitting several people.
An aide to Gov. Tracy lights a stream of gasoline which then ignites and catches a rec. center on fire.
There is slapstick violence as Mike and Steven try to get a bat out of their cabin (they break dishes, Steve bashes Mike over the head many times while trying to get the bat off of him, etc...) in a very long scene that isn't remotely funny.
Mike accidentally staples his hand while stapling up posters.
Some local boys shoot Chris with a fire extinguisher.
A large boulder comes rolling down a hill and knocks Mike and Steve's cabin off its foundation. Later, as the house sits at an angle, Steve unplugs the fridge and it slides across the floor and slams Mike against the wall. Moments later, Mike walks into a tree and knocks himself down while talking on the phone.
Mike's top bunk bed falls down and crushes Steve underneath him.
Mike ends up at a rock concert as a bouncer and tells an overzealous fan who's trying to crash the backstage area, "I'm gonna twist off your head and slam it on the floor."
Mike (after having hung out with some black reggae band members) addresses the concert crowd and says, "Kill whitey."
Mike and Steve go to Drake's wilderness encampment where they accidentally set off several mines or booby trapped explosives.
Drake finds them after the above and holds a machine gun on them. He then shoots Steve's car full of holes right before Mike jumps him. They fight a little bit and then suddenly become good buddies.
Gov. Tracy tells her aide that if she doesn't win, "I'll have your balls in a jar on my desk."
Mike gets stuck in a voting booth and as he tries to get out, knocks it over and traps two women inside. They both hit him when he finally frees them.
Mike breaks a window so that he and Steve and can break into the county offices to check the voter registration records.
Mike falls from a microwave truck's antennae.
Mike pulls a cop's gun and puts it to Steve's head and then walks him up to the podium to spill the beans on the Governor's illegal voter activity. Meanwhile, a sharpshooter gets ready to shoot Mike. But Drake suddenly appears and shines a mirror into the sharpshooter's face causing him to just miss hitting Mike. Then Drake displays a rocket launcher to get everyone's attention while Mike informs everyone of Tracy's wrong doings.
Mike throws a football intended for a student that instead hits a grandmother.
Mike's jacket gets caught in a plane as it taxis and then takes off with him holding on.

Reviewed August 6, 1996

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