I Am Chris Farley

A documentary on the comedian Chris Farley's life with interviews with fellow comedians and friends like David Spade, Christina Applegate, Mike Myers, Tom Arnold and Dan Aykroyd and others.

It also has Chris siblings, most notably Kevin Farley in it to provide stories of what Chris was like growing up.

Although it entertains and occasionally gets emotional when you see a hardended cynic like David Spade become emotional and having a hard time speaking it does feel like a very sugar-coated version of Chris' life.

It doesn't really speak much of Chris' hardships and why he became an addict and any real bad things that he did (which I imagine he did do as we all do) and it pretty much paints him out as a saint clown with self esteem issues.

Now I'm not saying that he wasn't a lovely guy, I'm sure he was, but there is a constant sense of "they're holding something back to save the memory of Chris Farley".

It's also very simple in it's structure, it has a couple people talk about Chris as a child to Chris getting into acting and Chris on the set etc etc, no fancy cuts or effects, more like a memoir collection than a full on documentary where you get to know the man up close and personal.

But still, worth the watch for sure, especially if you're a Chris Farley fan.

Chris Farley was an actor who threw himself into every role he did, not so much making a convincing character from nothing, but being so brazenly out of control and limitless that, by the end of the film or the respective Saturday Night Live sketch, you practically had to believe he was the real deal. His natural presence for comedy and trying to find the right moments to be completely ribald and pleasantly sentimental signifies him as one of the most talented comedy actors in years, and ever since I was young, I couldn't help but think what kind of path he would've made for himself had he not died so young.

I Am Chris Farley, a ninety-four minute documentary that will air on SpikeTV throughout the month of August and see a subsequent release on DVD and Blu-Ray, is a blatant love-letter to the comedian, and it's the kind of love-letter that really exhausts itself to show you everything there is to love about its subject. That's the film's greatest strength and its most notable weakness because, while we get to see every angle of Farley's comic abilities explored, depressingly little time is spent developing the very real drug and alcohol problems he battled throughout his life, which eventually caused his untimely death in 1997.

Farley grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, the middle child of three rambunctious brothers, encouraged by a father who loved to see their comic spirits run wild. Kevin Farley, who is a spitting image of his younger brother, recalls Chris constantly battling for the most attention from everyone in his family and often deservedly getting it for being so captivating and uncontrollable. Chris was a person who loved to run in groups, joining football and rugby during his school days, and routinely accepting dares and attempting to impress everyone around him simply because of his desire to be seen. He competed for attention; something that would undoubtedly earn him a spotlight at acclaimed venues such as Chicago's Second City and, eventually, Saturday Night Live, where, even through numerous film deals, he saw his home and the ultimate goal of his career.

Directors Brett Hodge and Derik Murray work to juxtapose film and sketch clips over the course of Farley's career with footage of his colleagues such as Adam Sandler, David Spade, Tom Arnold, Bo Derek, and Bob Saget speaking about their late friend and costar. The result is a familiar but effective structure thanks to how well the selected film clips mesh with Farley's personal life. Furthermore, a great deal of time is spent discussing Farley's comic talent and what made him so charismatic. Saget states that Farley had a "not give a s*** pride," which allowed him to be as raucous as he wanted; that meant taking off his shirt, dancing crazily all over a set, screaming and yelling to create a convincing, hyperactive character, and falling on the ground - without putting his arms out or creating a cushion - authentically. Anything he could do to add to the flavor and the zaniness of a sketch, he would and he would constantly make it work.

Few conversations on a professional or personal level concerning Chris Farley remain entirely positive, given his later years and his tragic death, which is why it's frustrating to see I Am Chris Farley so nonchalantly gloss over the effects and the circumstances leading up to and resulting in his death. I don't ever recall the word "cocaine," the drug that eventually killed Farley, being said in the film, nor any recollections from the interviewees when they found out about Farley's death. It's no doubt that everyone in this film has a strong love and respect for the late comic (by the end of the film, we almost want to throw our hands in front of ourselves and say, "we believe you"), but there's a disconcerting factor of being so in love with the subject that talking bad about a certain aspect or feature is a no-no here.

This makes I Am Chris Farley somewhat of a more sentimental documentary than one willing to explore how insecurities in the comedy world effect a person, especially for Farley, whose image was largely made up of a bumbling fat guy with little coordination and self-esteem. Although all of the footage here is rich and the documentary is nicely structured, there's something unfortunate about one half of the subject being covered with specifics and the other half, arguably just as important, being whitewashed almost entirely in generalities.

Nonetheless, I Am Chris Farley is a celebration at heart; a celebration of a life lost too soon and a comic actor that left as big of a footprint on the genre as he was himself. He was a personality film, the entertainment world, and comedy was sincerely lucky to have.

Directed by: Brent Hodge and Derik Murray.

This is a nice documentary about Chris Farley. It takes his life chronologically. It shows an idyllic upbringing with his loving family. He's definitely the class clown. Then it's on to Second City and Saturday Night Live. All the great comedians tell wonderful stories about him. It's a lovely fun time. The last act has more about his addiction problems. It's not hidden in the movie but it doesn't dwell on it. It's probably the only glaring thing missing. It doesn't so much gloss over Farley's problems as much as explain it away. After the midway point, a tougher documentary would have zeroed in on his addictions. It takes the material with a lighter touch. It's to be expected with a film that has the full cooperation of his family and friends.

I Am Chris Farley (2015)

*** (out of 4)

Nice and touching documentary about the short life of comedian Chris Farley who found himself skyrocket to fame very quickly but it all came crashing down when he died at the age of 33. Adam Sandler, Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, Christina Applegate, Tom Arnold, Jay Mohr, Jon Lovitz, Bob Saget, David Spade, Bo Derek and Lorne Michaels are some of the famous faces who share their memories of Farley but we also get interviews with two of his brothers who discuss his early life.

If you're a fan of Farley then you'll really enjoy this documentary that plays more like a tribute than anything else. We see a lot of footage from his Saturday Night Live days and we also get to hear some nice stories about what he was like as a child as well as his days in college where it seems his addiction to alcohol started. The documentary spends the majority of its time looking at the various highs that Farley had in his life while it pretty much skates around his addiction and early death. I think what I was most disappointed in is that the film really didn't shine enough of a spotlight on his death and it's really just mentioned in the passing moments. People talk about a dark side of Farley and the torments of fame but it pretty much is mentioned and the movie is then over.

The Documentary, despite it being seemingly rushed a bit, is a nice touch to just give a final respect to a guy, who just couldn't help himself being nothing else but The Clown (in good sense). I will always cherish, as an European here in Hungary and Slovakia, his natural, raw talent of being The entertainer of his time, I have been and will always laugh at his great sketches and funny movies like Beverly Hills Ninja, which is really close to my heart to this day. He was simply a good-hearted guy who, with his purity, had to face with the classic enemy in the show business: To live up to his self image anytime he could, and was doing it with everything he could pull out of himself. We get you Chris Farley, and we love you for it. RIP!

"As I stumble through this life, help me to create more laughter than tears, dispense more happiness than gloom, spread more cheer than despair.

Never let me become so indifferent, that I will fail to see the wonders in the eyes of a child, or the twinkle in the eyes of the aged.

Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people, make them happy, and forget momentarily, all the unpleasantness in their lives.

And in my final moment, may I hear You whisper: "When you made My people smile, you made Me smile."