Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley

I have at one point owned both versions of the Best of Chris Farley: the 1998 version and the 2003 version. I found the 2003 version to be much better. Not only do you have all of the sketches from the 198 version, including Matt Foley, Bennet Brauer and Bill Swartzkey's Superfans, but you also have lesser known sketches and tons of special features. The special features include: outtakes, deleted scenes, Chris on Conan and Leno and a tribute to Chris. The latter is quite emotional and makes you realize how much we've lost. If you enjoyed Chris on SNL, as I did, or found out about him later, I guarantee that you will like this collection.

Chris Farley was a legend. How a person could not find him funny I cannot imagine, truthfully, his skits and movies, even the worse of them(almost heros) are still funny enough to watch, just because of his presence. I miss him every time I say "JackSquat" or "Yapper" or if i hear Loverboy or hear the chippendales mentioned I think of Chris. He was a guy who made everyone laugh and although this movie doesn't have all the great skits, It does have quite a few ones that really show off his comedic skills, My personal favorite is the hidden Camera one, Great facial expressions!! Chris Farley is a guy I will emulate the rest of my life. Chris, Thanks for the time you gave us and thanks for the classic moments!!

I've found that most people either totally love Chris Farley or, when you bring him up, make a face and say, "I never really thought he was funny." Most of the people I am not friends with anymore fall into the latter category- not because of that, but later I look back and say, "Well, I should have known we wouldn't get along when they said they never liked Chris Farley."

If you are in the second category, why are you even reading this (other than morbid curiosity?) If you are in the first, and don't own this video yet, RUN don't walk to the video store (or your PC) and buy one. When they ran it the first time on TV, it wasn't long after Farley's death, and I was still sad about it. After the sober opening by Tim Meadows, however, I started laughing pretty much non-stop till it was over. His better-known routines are on here, such as Bennet Brower, Matt Foley, and the Chippendale's dancer, which are all hilarious. But there's also quite a few skits that I never saw, and we watched pretty much every week when he was in the cast. My only complaint is that it isn't longer, and some funny skits, they only show snippets of, like him playing Alan Hale, and the skit with Sandler where Michael Keaton was the host and Sandler plays his cranky grandmother whom he has to watch for 20 minutes. (if you want to see the whole skit, which is one of the funniest things I've ever seen them do, then buy the Best of Adam Sandler as well, because it the whole skit, plus some other great Farley stuff not on this tape is on there). The only noticeable (if you're a Farley fan) omission is a skit called "The Relapse Guy" where he plays a guy who goes to rehab then gets wasted again over and over (it's way funnier than it sounds, trust me). I think they thought it was a little too close to home (though they did leave in the Ditka stuff with him faking a heart attack-that kind of made me wince).

Every time I see this, several things happen-- I get sad that he wasn't around long enough to make more movies with Spade, or even by himself, because (this sounds corny) he had so much to give. I also get pi$$ed off at him for not taking better care of himself and dying. I also usually laugh so hard I fall off the couch. No matter how bad of a day I had, I can watch almost any of the skits on here and get cheered up instantly. He was a guy who could just say one line that you would think no-one could say and make it funny, and make you fall down laughing just the way he says it. His costars really had a hard time keeping character, which shows even more in the dress rehersal 'blooper' clips they show. Watch David Spade and Christina Appelgate during the Matt FOley thing- they both have to turn away from the camera to hide their faces because they can't keep a straight face, and when he starts in with the "I bet you're asking yourself 'hey Matt, how do we get back on the right track?' " you can see their shoulders shaking they are laughing so hard. Sandler can't keep a straight face when he's doing the "Lunchlady" song with him, either. Come to think of it, I have no clue how anyone on stage with him could ever keep a straight face. If you were bummed out when he died, get ready to get teary (though you'll already have tears running down your face from laughing) when he sings, "so long, farewell" as Matt Foley at the end, sitting on Phil Hartman's lap (I could watch this without tearing up until Hartman was killed, now I can't see the clip without getting choked up). But even if you do get emotional, keep watching, because after the credits they stick on the one thing I'd been hoping for the whole time-a quick clip of Farley as "Sandman" on "Nat X". What a waste- I hope whereever he is he knows how happy he made people during the short time he was around (and how happy he is still making those of us who thought he was funny).

Chris Farley (Tommy Boy, Beverly Hills Ninja, Almost Heroes) was a great comic. He had a grasp of physical comedy that he didn't get full credit for. He came to Saturday Night Live during the same time as Adam Sandler, Phil Hartman, and David Spade, and left about the same time to pursue a film career. Adam Sandler is now a guaranteed money maker for studios, and David Spade has made good on television, as did Phil Hartman before his tragic death. So many great comedic actors have died before their time, and Saturday Night Live has had more than their fair share of them, that it's tempting to put Chris Farley as another person on the list and leave it at that. But I think he deserves some special mention. In the skits on this disc, The Best of Chris Farley he often worked alongside these other actors and stole the scenes; and many times you could tell the others couldn't help but laugh at his antics even when they were supposed to be serious.

Chris Farley was not only a big man, who thought that much of his comic appeal came from his size, but he was incredibly athletic and showed the grace and agility of a much thinner dancer. Besides being one of the best at pratfalls and other slapstick humor he often showed that agility in sketches where he would dance, figure skate, or do martial arts. That he had so many gifts makes it all the more sad that he died so young. We can only wonder what might have been.

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley is another in the "Best of" line but in this case is also a tribute to one of my favorites from the cast who is no longer with us. In that respect alone I would recommend this disc, but it has its own merits as well.

Chris Farley is one of my favorite comedians and to me will forever be missed as the big, clumsy, and drop dead hilarious comedian to ever live. Saturday Night Live shows the funniest skits I have ever seen of his. The Japanese show, "Da Bears," The coffee fight scene, The Herlihy boy, Schmitts Gay, The Chris Farley Show, Matt Foley, Chippendales dance scene, The El Nino weather scene, and more. Before Tommy Boy and Black Sheep, there was Saturday Night Live with Chris Farley, that will forever remain the funniest stuff he's ever done. I highly recommend you seeing The Best of Chris Farley because you will die laughing at his skits. He represents comedy!

Hedeen's Outlook: 10/10 **** A+