Chris Farley on Saturday Night Live (Virgil Films)

Chris Farley was a bright star on Saturday Night Live when the show was in its 1990s king-making prime. A friend of Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, and David Spade, he was poised for a career as potentially successful as any of his peers. But he burned too brightly: the nature of his comedy, and the persona that drove it, did not allow for longevity. Years of substance abuse caught up to him when he died of a drug overdose at the age of 33 in 1997. Nearly 20 years after his death, this documentary seeks to remind the world of exactly what was lost when his flame was snuffed out.

Running through the film are clips from an interview with David Letterman right before the release of Tommy Boy, the now beloved 1995 comedy that had the chance to open Hollywood’s doors to him. With Letterman, Farley is exuberant and shy, brash and almost painfully sweet. This, according to those who knew him, was the real Farley. He was the life of the party with a celebrity’s charisma, but he was also a gentle kid from the sticks just tickled to be invited.

He grew up in a rough-and-tumble family of four sons in suburban Wisconsin. A child of the VCR era, he memorized whole films word for word and had an encyclopedic knowledge of classic comedy. He and his brothers were drawn to large comics like Jackie Gleason, since those guys reminded them of their father, a salesman Farley adored and subsequently mined for material. It may surprise some to know Farley was a huge jock, but it fits. Sports, and the desire to make his teammates laugh, led to the first combination of a “never say no” attitude and alcohol fueled hijinks.

Late one night, he stumbled into a community theater and asked about classes. The director soon realized he was a “perfect storm of comedy” as well as “a very frightened person.” Improvisation, with its foundation in “yes, and” acceptance and the camaraderie of its ensembles, was an outlet for his talent and a boon to his self-esteem. He loved it enough to fly off to Chicago, where he studied under Del Close before being plucked from obscurity by SNL’s Lorne Michaels.

Most comedy fans know what happened next, although it’s a pleasure to rewatch classic SNL moments, like his dance-off with Patrick Swayze, his awkward interview with Paul McCartney, and his showstopping portrayal of Matt Foley, who famously lived “in a van down by the river.” Farley’s work is lauded by a who’s who of comedy, and the film hits its zenith as they remember the belly laughs he gave them.

The fact that there was a real Matt Foley, and that he is a Catholic priest, is another surprise, leading to a discussion of Farley’s Christian values. When asked what his dream was, the comedian didn’t rattle off a materialistic wish list. He spoke of his desire to be a big enough star that when he went to visit sick children in the hospital they would know who he was.

It’s terribly poignant to watch his fellow funny men describe the efforts they made to keep that Chris, the good Chris, alive. He had all the support in the world, whether it was Lorne Michaels throwing him into rehab or Mike Myers literally holding on to him, trying to get him to see how he was hurting himself and those around him. None of it worked. To those who knew him, the man with the rocketlike speed on stage, ironically died in slow motion.

There is some speculation as to the specific triggers that led to his demise and some discussion of the bad behavior born by his addictions, but I Am Chris Farley mostly makes no bones about lionizing its subject. And there was so much left to do. At the time of his death, he had recorded most of the voice-overs for the title character in Shrek, and had hopes to star in a David Mamet biopic of Fatty Arbuckle, among other projects.