'I Am Chris Farley': Home Movies Paint a Childhood Portrait

Ethan Alter
·Senior Writer, Yahoo Entertainment
Updated

The world remembers the late Chris Farley as one of Saturday Night Live’s most talented Not Ready for Primetime Players, whose star shone brightly but was extinguished too soon. The new documentary I Am Chris Farley sets out to show viewers another side of the comedian’s short but memorable life, which ended in 1997 following a drug overdose. Made with the participation of Farley’s family and friends, the film, which premieres Aug. 10 on Spike, provides a glimpse into his formative years, as seen in this exclusive clip where his surviving siblings describe Chris’s childhood years over home movie footage.

“Chris was the middle child, the black sheep, the strange one,” says his younger brother Kevin, an actor and stand-up comic. “The poor world only got to see this part of the iceberg that is Chris,” chimes in the youngest Farley brother, John, as images of a young Chris clowning for the camera unspool onscreen.

The song in the background of the clip is by Ike Reilly, who was Chris’s friend and rugby teammate. It’s called “Born on Fire” and was inspired, at least in part, by Farley.

Related: ‘Saturday Night Live’ #TBT: Chris Farley Auditions for the Chippendales

Naturally, I Am Chris Farley also devotes a good deal of screen time to Farley’s SNL career, highlighting such memorable characters as motivational speaker Matt Foley and his would-be Chippendale dancer. Lorne Michaels himself appears on camera to discuss Farley’s five-season stint on the late night institution, along with peers like Adam Sandler, David Spade, Bob Odenkirk, Dan Aykroyd, and Jay Mohr. All of them speak of their departed friend in glowing terms, while also bemoaning the addictions that eventually led to his death.

I Am Chris Farley doesn’t venture too deeply into the darker aspects of Farley’s life, but it does preserve his talent for future generations to witness.

I Am Chris Farley airs Aug. 10 at 9 p.m. on Spike.