ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, February 3, 1996             TAG: 9602040005
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 7    EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT 

`BLACK SHEEP' IS REALLY BAA-A-D

Those who enjoy watching Chris Farley smack his head against hard objects may think that "Black Sheep" is the funniest movie ever made. Everyone else can safely give this half-hearted comedy a pass.

Essentially it's another version of last year's "Tommy Boy," with stars Farley and David Spade playing the same characters under different names. Most of the people involved in the cast and crew have some connection to "Saturday Night Live," and, like that TV show, the film is labored and uninspired.

As election day nears, gubernatorial candidate Al Donnelly (Tim Matheson) needs to keep his goofball brother Mike (Farley) out of the limelight. He assigns eager young campaign staffer Steve Dodds (Spade) to the task. The evil incumbent (Christine Ebersole) tries to frame poor Mike for all sorts of misdeeds.

Allegedly comic bits are based on catching a bat in a house, rolling down a hillside and the cliched craziness of a Vietnam vet (Gary Busey). Whenever the subject turns to drug use, the film does generate some guilty energy, but the whole production has a hurried, unpolished feeling. Perhaps Fred Wolf had finished the rough draft of a script when director Penelope Spheeris and the stars were available for a few weeks of filming.

What they came up with earns a few points for the good-natured personalities of the stars, but that's all. The film itself is nothing more than low-budget, low-imagination slapstick. With an 87-minute running time, it's short but not nearly short enough.

It's worth noting as a footnote that Bruce McGill has a small supporting role as the governor's campaign manager. The last time he and Matheson shared the screen was in "National Lampoon's Animal House." Youth-oriented comedy has certainly fallen a long way.

Black Sheep *

A Paramount release playing at the Crossroads Mall and Tanglewood Mall Theaters. 87 min. Rated PG-13 for strong language, drug use, bathroom humor.

LENGTH: Short :   46 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  ``Saturday Night Live'' regulars Chris Farley (left) and
          David Spade star in ``Black Sheep.''