History YMMV / TommyBoy

* FirstInstallmentWins: There's no continuity between them, but this is held to be the best of Creator/ChrisFarley's star vehicles, striking a good balance between juvenile and clever humor, not relying too much on Farley's character being TheKlutz (Tommy's dopiness and childish tendencies are presented as obstacles [[CharacterDevelopment for him to overcome]], not the central premise of the story), and having the most well-written plot.

* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: Michelle's shouted threat at the cruel children at the lake.
-->'''Michelle:''' Listen up, you little spazoids! [[ParanoiaFuel I know where you live and I've seen where you sleep]]! I swear to everything holy that your mothers will '''CRY''' when they see what I've done to you!!

** Richard's DeadpanSnarker attitude may be [[JerkassHasAPoint kind of justified]] toward [[FatIdiot Tommy]], but his lack of people skills and smug behavior toward almost everyone he meets prevents him from being a good salesman or having any friends despite his technical intelligence. Tommy may not be intellectually gifted, but his friendly persona, charm, and [[GuileHero eventual craftiness]] ultimately keep Callahan Auto from falling apart. [[HardWorkHardlyWorks Hard work doesn't matter]] if you act like smug {{Jerkass}} who puts other people down to the point of alienating them.

** [[VindicatedByCable Vindicated by Video]]: While the movie did okay at the box office, it was a ''huge'' hit on video. At one point, director Peter Segal claimed that it was in the top ten selling Paramount VHS releases of all time.

** [[HardWorkHardlyWorks Hard work doesn't matter]] if you act like smug {{Jerkass}} who puts other people down to the point of alienating them. Tommy's DeadpanSnarker attitude may be [[JerkassHasAPoint kind of justified]] toward [[FatIdiot Tommy]]. Still, his lack of people skills and smug behavior prevent him from being a good salesman or having any friends despite his technical intelligence. Tommy may not be intellectually gifted, but his friendly persona, charm, and [[GuileHero eventual craftiness]] ultimately keep Callahan Auto from falling apart.

* AccidentalAesop: Tommy and Richard start out struggling to sell break pads thanks in large part to Tommy's inexperience, which is exacerbated by Richard's insults after each failed meeting. But once Richard offers Tommy genuine sales advice rather than snide insults, their working relationship improves considerably and they become an excellent partnership. So, the lesson here may be that students finding it difficult to learn often respond better to positive reinforcement than negative reinforcement.

* FirstInstallmentWins: There's no continuity between them, but this is held to be the best of Creator/ChrisFarley's star vehicles, striking a good balance between juvenile and clever humor, not relying too much on Farley's character being TheKlutz (Tommy's dopiness and childish tendencies are presented as an obstacle [[CharacterDevelopment for him to overcome]], not the main thrust of the story), and having the most well-written plot.

* FirstInstallmentWins: There's no continuity between them, but this is held to be the best of Creator/ChrisFarley's star vehicles, striking a good balance between juvenile and clever humor, not relying too much on Farley's character being TheKlutz (Tommy's dopiness and childish tendencies are an obstacle [[CharacterDevelopment for him to overcome]], not [[IdiotPlot the main thrust of the story]]), and having the most well-written plot.

* FirstInstallmentWins: There's no continuity between them, but this is held to be the best of Creator/ChrisFarley's star vehicles, striking a good balance between juvenile and clever humor, not relying too much on Farley's character being TheKlutz (Tommy's dopiness and childish tendencies are an obstacle [[CharacterDevelopment for him to overcome, not [[IdiotPlot the main thrust of the story]]), and having the most well-written plot.

* FirstInstallmentWins: There's no continuity between them, but this is held to be the best of Creator/ChrisFarley's star vehicles, striking the best balance between juvenilie and clever humor, not relying too much on Farley's character being TheKlutz, and having the most well-written plot.

* FirstInstallmentWins: There's no continuity between them, but this is held to be the best of Creator/ChrisFarley's star vehicles, striking the best balance between juvenilia and clever humor and having the most well-written plot.

* VindicatedByHistory: The film was ''slammed'' by critics upon release, but these days it's remembered fondly as a classic buddy comedy film that showcases the great comedic chemistry between Creator/ChrisFarley and Creator/DavidSpade.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** R.T., the Callahan Auto receiving specialist, is extremely rude and bullying to Tommy even though Tommy is in line to replace the owner and president of the company, and could fire his ass in a heartbeat for insubordination. Lucky for him that Tommy's the forgiving sort, and got his revenge ahead of time by [[spoiler:losing his virginity to R.T.'s daughter]].
** Michelle somehow doesn't notice that Paul tampered with the orders, despite her walking in on him at her computer and his suspicious behavior afterward.

** The film's semi-antagonist, Zelensky, is a corporate magnate who uses a [=PR=] campaign to present himself as a friend of the working man while selfishly downsizing people for his own gain, something he admits to Tommy. Nowadays, with numerous incidents of corporate abuse, such [=PR=] campaigns have come under greater scrutiny.

* ValuesResonance: The overarching plot of the film is Tommy's Ohio hometown seeing its industry being shut down and outsourced, and him trying to stop a tycoon from downsizing his own company's factory. With America's deindustrialization getting worse with each passing year, many people in the Rust Belt can relate to this film.

** Tommy's fake bomb threat is something that would not be nearly as funny post-[9=/=11]

* ValuesResonance: The overarching plot of the film is Tommy's hometown seeing its industry being shut down and outsourced, and him trying to stop a tycoon from downsizing his own company's factory. With America's deindustrialization getting worse with each passing year, many people in the Rust Belt can relate to this film.

* FridgeLogic: When Tommy is being pulled over by the police, he comments that the police will never believe he wasn't drinking even though a simple breathalyzer test would prove he was sober. However, consumption of alcohol inside a motor vehicle is illegal in Ohio and can result in a 30-day jail sentence.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Tommy's drug use is really uncomfortable after Chris Farley's drug-related death two years after the movie came out.

* HilariousInHindsight: In the film, Richard mentions that he never had a father and that Big Tom Callahan served as a mentor figure to himself. A few years later, Brian Dennehy would play the father of David Spade's character on the sitcom ''Series/JustShootMe''

* HilariousInHindsight: In the film, Richard mentions that he never had a father and that Big Tom Callahan served as a mentor figure to himself. A few years later, Brian Dennehy could play the father of David Spade's character on the sitcom ''Series/JustShootMe''.