History Film / TommyBoy

* ParentalSubstitute: Unlike Tommy, Richard didn't have a father growing up. Big Tom, who hired him as his assistant and looked out for him at work, is the closest thing he had.

* SpiritualSuccessor: It's pretty much a wackier version of ''Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles''.

-->'''Lou:''' Tommy just sold ''a half a million BRAKE PADS!!''

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Younger viewers may be surprised to find that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbie_Hancock Herbie Hancock]] is a very real public figure (namely a jazz musician) and Tommy simply got two people with the same last name mixed up.

Tommy Callahan (Farley) is the ManChild son of charismatic auto-part-factory owner "Big" Tom Callahan (Creator/BrianDennehy). Big Tom is marrying Beverly Barish-Burns (Creator/BoDerek), a trophy wife who brings along her rather conniving adult "son" Paul (Creator/RobLowe), but things go downhill when Big Tom suffers a fatal heart attack at the wedding reception. His now-widow and stepson quickly set plans in motion to sell the company to rival auto magnate Ray Zalinsky (Creator/DanAykroyd), which will make them rich but put all the workers at Callahan out of work.

* BerserkButton: Tommy becomes enraged when Richard accuses him of being a disappointment to his father's legacy. Meanwhile, Richard loses his temper when Tommy makes fun of his diminutive stature.

** While Richard is knowledgable and educated, his acerbic nature just alienates the people around him. Once he offers Tommy genuine sales advice, their working relationship improves considerably.

* DeadpanSnarker: Almost every line Richard says throughout the film has some kind of belittling of Tommy's intelligence or lampshading of how stupid he thinks the whole thing is. It's also deconstructed as it's shown that because Richard can't go long without making some kind of quip, very few people can stand him and he doesn't have a lot of friends.

* LargeHam: Tommy, of course.

* MusclesAreMeaningless: Richard is played by the skinny and unimposing David Spade but is surprisingly strong, punching hard enough to faze Tommy and able to knock him unconscious with a single blow from two by four.

-->'''Clerk:''' (''obliviously'') I don't think so.

Not to be confused with ''Film/{{Tomboy}}''. See also ''Film/BlackSheep1996'', a another comedy film starring Chris Farley and David Spade released the following year.

* NotQuiteDead: The deer they accidentally hit.

* ChekhovsGunman: Michelle tells Tommy that her brother has since become a policeman. Later, she learns from him that [[spoiler:Beverly and Paul aren't actually mother and son, but husband and wife ''and'' con artists.]]
** Zalinsky, who was going to acquire Callahan Auto but instead fills the order Tommy needed to save the company.

* ComedicWorkSeriousScene: [[spoiler: Tommy's dad's death]] is a genuinely sad moment in an otherwise comedic film.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Big Tom introduced Beverly to Tommy, he told Tommy about having proposed to her. Tommy asked him what her reply was.

* DonutMessWithACop: Michelle's brother used to steal donuts back when he and Tommy were kids. He's a cop now.

The only way for Tommy to avert this is to go on the road with his father's sycophantic assistant Richard (Spade) and sell enough orders for brake pads to make the company profitable. But will a bumbling idiot who took seven years to finish college have enough business savvy to make a sale... and will he be able to overcome the scheming of his new "family"?

* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Beverly looks awfully young for someone with a grownup son. [[spoiler:It's because she's not really Paul's mother; she's his wife!]]

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: When they need to change clothes on the airplane, Richard steps into the bathroom first, and emerges fully changed ''two seconds'' later. Then, while Richard explains to Tommy what they need to do when they get to Chicago, Tommy is looking back and forth from Richard to the bathroom, utterly perplexed at how he was able to change his clothes so fast.

** Richard's car goes through a considerable amount of abuse, usually because of Tommy [[and the deer Richard accidentally hits]] to the point he lets it get towed at the airport.

** Tommy has a knack for bumping into things, mainly glass doors.

** Notice that after everyone else has left the cemetery and that Tommy is standing in shock at the grave Richard is quietly keeping a concerned eye on him from a few feet behind. Being as Big Tom is no longer his boss and he has nothing to gain it’s a clear indication that he truly cares about Tommy.

* WhatTheHellHero: Tommy tells Michelle if she keeps the files in the file cabinet, then they wouldn't have lost the factory.

* CharacterDevelopment: When he starts his sales trip, [[{{Malaproper}} Tommy tries and fails]] to use Big Tom's pitch "I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull's ass, but I'd rather take a butcher's word for it."
Towards the end, Tommy says it correctly, showcasing his growth into a worthy heir to the family business.

* CasualCarGiveaway: At the end of the film when Tommy and Richard arrive at the doors of the airport, they ditch their car. When a police officer tells them that they're not allowed to park there, Richard tosses him the keys and says "keep it" ([[TheAllegedCar the car was basically falling apart at this point]]).

* CharacterDevelopment: When he starts his sales trip, [[{{Malaproper}} Tommy tries and fails]] to use Big Tom's pitch "I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull's ass, but I'd rather take a butcher's word for it.". Towards the end, Tommy says it correctly, showcasing his growth into a worthy heir to his father's business.

* ChekhovsGunman: Michelle tells Tommy that her brother has since become a policeman. Later, she learns from him that [[spoiler:Beverly and Paul aren't actually mother and son, but a husband and wife team of con artists.]]

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: When Tommy learns that Beverly and Paul lied to his father so they could steal his fortune, he immediately adopts a serious mood and becomes determined to thwart them.

* TheGhost: Michelle's brother Dwayne never makes an appearance [[spoiler:but plays a huge role in the story by revealing Paul and Beverly's true nature to the protagonists.]]

-->'''Clerk:''' (''obliviously'') I don't think so?

** [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Ay, carumba!]]

* BatmanGambit: Knowing that Zalinsky places a high value on his P.R. image, Tommy gets him to purchase the entirety of Callahan's brake pad stock in front of a news camera (with Zalinsky writing it off as a symbolic move, since he's about to own the brand), and ''then'' Tommy reveals that [[spoiler:because of Beverly's illegal marriage to Big Tom, he's still the controlling stockholder at Callahan, and declines to sell off the company]].

Tommy Callahan (Farley) is the ManChild son of charismatic auto-part-factory owner "Big" Tom Callahan (Creator/BrianDennehy). Big Tom is marrying Beverly Barish-Burns (Creator/BoDerek), a trophy wife who brings along her rather conniving adult "son" Paul (Creator/RobLowe), but things go downhill when Big Tom suffers a fatal heart attack at the wedding reception. His now-widow and stepson quickly set plans in motion to sell the company to rival auto magnate Ray Zalinsky (Creator/DanAykroyd), which will make them rich but put all the workers at Callahan out of business.

* HiddenDepths: Tommy seems lazy and immature, but it's shown he sincerely wants to help keep his father's company afloat and make his dad proud. He also cares very much about the workers, to the point that he's willing to put up his entire inheritance as collateral in order to save everyone's jobs. That's in addition to proving himself to be a a natural salesman once he starts to relax and do what comes naturally rather than trying to impress clients.

* NiceGuy: Tommy was doted on by his rich father and never truly had to work for anything in life. With that said, he's also one of the friendliest guys you could meet and cares about the workers at Callahan Auto Parts so much that he's willing to risk his entire inheritance so they won't lose their jobs. He's also gleeful at the prospect of having a brother and is extremely welcoming to Paul, admittedly in his own somewhat idiotic way.

* SmartJerkAndNiceMoron: Richard's the right-hand man to Tommy's father, Big Tom Callahan, but comes off as an InsufferableGenius who routinely disparages other people, especially Tommy. Tommy is a bumbling ditz, taking seven years to finish college, but he's willing to do whatever it takes to keep his family's company afloat, even giving up his inheritance. After spending most of the movie struggling to make sales, Richard realizes that Tommy has street smarts when he sees him successfully talk a waitress into giving them a special, and after Tommy learns to [[CentipedesDilemma stop trying to emulate his father and act naturally]], they make many sales.

** [[RunningGag "Yikes."]]

** Bo Derek wears the same bathing suit she wore in ''Film/{{Ten}}''. Lampshaded by Tommy when he comments "Dad, she's like... a ''ten!''"

** When Tommy's future step-mother (Creator/BoDerek) first appears, he calls her a "Film/{{Ten}}".