Biography: Chris Farley - Anything for a Laugh

It's an A&E bio doc of the great late SNL alum as told by his friends, colleagues, and his three brothers. Of course, it's loving portrait but it never demures from his lifelong alcoholism and gluttony. On the other hand, it doesn't really dwell on his drug use but it does acknowledge it. That's fair since his friends and family probably only saw the periphery of that world. Mostly, this is the story of a sweet guy that everybody loved who is lost to the world too soon.

Chris Farley's 3 brothers sit around a table having a big meal and drinking and recollecting the eating, drinking, and comedy of their brother. Then most of his co-stars tell us how funny he was and hope awful it was that he died so young. If there ever was a "color by the numbers" bio this one is it. Nothing new. Nothing insightful. I'm a big Chris Farley fan. He deserved better.

"Anything For A Laugh" is a clear case of false advertising. Chris Farley was a funny guy. But this doc hangs a pall over every clip by sandwiching them between dour c-list performers grumbling through their memories of Farley's addictions. Tom Arnold and Gary Busey, both addled and burned out by their own addictions, can barely string two sentences together.

They never dig too deeply into the addictions either. The exact drugs he did were only mentioned once. The circumstances of his death were not described. It's worth noting that a sex worker left the apartment on the night of his death knowing he was in distress but did not call for an ambulance. If you're doing a biography, give your viewers details.

No Tim Meadows, which is baffling. They worked together in Second City as well as SNL. The whole thing seems like half an effort.

I don't think this was very well put together but it was obviously put together with love. A lot of friends and families shared their experiences with Chris and it wasn't always entertaining. Also they were always eating some reason. It did show some of his good skits in SNL and reminded me of a few of them such as Da Bulls sketch. By the end when it showed his death it got me in the heart strings for sure. Chris was truly a huge loss to the world dying at 33.