It says something about the enduring popularity of late comedian and Saturday Night Live idol Chris Farley when a documentary bearing his name breaks records. I Am Chris Farley became the most viewed documentary in American network Spike TV\u2019s history when it aired on Aug.\u00a010, gathering 1.5 million viewers. But the documentary\u2019s wholly American tale of a meteoric rise to stardom and a tragic fall from grace couldn\u2019t have been more Canadian, co-produced and co-directed by two Vancouver filmmakers, Derik Murray and Brent Hodge.<\/p>\n
Murray is known for directing the Academy Award-shortlisted Facing Ali and Spike TV\u2019s I Am Bruce Lee, which held the network\u2019s previous documentary viewership record. Hodge is known for his critically acclaimed documentary A Brony Tale, which explored the subculture of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fans.<\/p>\n
Produced by Murray\u2019s Network Entertainment, in partnership with Vancouver\u2019s Thunderbird Films, Bell Media and Corus Entertainment, I Am Chris Farley garners the Farley family \u2014 including brother and comedian Kevin Farley, who co-produced \u2014 and a host of actors and comedians who knew Chris Farley best, including David Spade, Bob Saget, Bob Odenkirk, SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels, among others. In vivid testimonies, they recall Farley\u2019s life and career, cut short on Dec.\u00a018, 1997, at the age of 33 due to drugs and alcohol.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it was going to be a respectful film, there was going to be family involved,\u201d Hodge said in a phone interview. \u201cI knew this wasn\u2019t a tabloid film.\u201d<\/p>\n
The process to filming the documentary, which had a budget of roughly $1.2 million US, began with meeting Farley\u2019s family in his hometown of Madison, Wis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were looking at some of the different icons that we were interested in and we looked at the comedy world, Farley was right at the very top of that mountain,\u201d Murray said. \u201cBrent was the first person I shared my thoughts with. He\u2019d been a Farley fan since he was a young lad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t think it was real,\u201d Hodge said. \u201cWhen we went to Madison, all hell broke loose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hodge laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was important for these icons to know where we were going with the film,\u201d Murray added. \u201cIt was truly a story about Chris\u2019s life. We were celebrating his life and his comic genius. And they were happy to know the family was involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murray and Hodge echoed much of the sentiment witnessed in the film: That Farley was a people pleaser and a consummate entertainer who couldn\u2019t bear to disappoint anyone \u2014 most of all himself.<\/p>\n
This lead to a self-destructive cycle involving alcohol and drug abuse, a cycle not unlike the one that took the life of his childhood hero John Belushi.<\/p>\n
Through archival clips and carefully edited interviews with an all-star cast, Farley\u2019s life is explored from his childhood years, to his early days at Second City in Chicago, to his explosive performances on Saturday Night Live (especially as motivational speaker Matt Foley), and finally to the disappointing reception his movies Tommy Boy, Black Sheep and Beverly Hills Ninja garnered, which eventually made him spiral to an untimely end.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s his characters that made him timeless,\u201d Hodge said. \u201cThese Midwest guys \u2014 those are characters people can relate to. That\u2019s why Tommy Boy, as Lorne Michaels says in the film \u2014 for a film that was so savaged, it\u2019s funny how it stuck around and it\u2019s on Time magazine\u2019s top 10 comedies of all time. And Matt Foley is the top SNL skit of all time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s almost the more years we go without Chris Farley we forget how incredible he was. You don\u2019t see physicality like that any more, really.\u201d<\/p>\n
I Am Chris Farley will make its Canadian television debut via Movie Central on Sept.\u00a03 at 9:30PM<\/p>\n
The film, which toured 30 cities in the U.S. before its Spike TV air date, will screen at Vancouver\u2019s Rio Theatre on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and Sept. 1. Kevin Farley will be in attendance on Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n
I Am Chris Farley is also available via video-on-demand services and iTunes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"