The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult

Image Source: Wikipedia

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Production Company: Paramount Pictures

Director: Peter Segal

Producers: Robert K. Weiss and David Zucker

Scriptwriters: Pat Proft, David Zucker and Robert LoCash

Main Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson, Fred Ward, Kathleen Freeman and Anna Nicole Smith

Released: March 18 1994 (US) and May 20 1994 (UK)

Running Time: 83 Minutes

Certificate: 12

The third and final entry in the incredibly funny Naked Gun trilogy follows the same formula as the two previous films: a basic, silly yet humorous plotline, with the Police Squad required to prevent a disaster occuring. Along the way is a ton of slapstick comedy, from one-liners to physical jokes to facial expressions. This is seen as the weakest of the three films, although it is still extremely funny and is a more than worthy end to arguably the greatest comedy trilogy ever.

Before we get to the main story, we learn that Lt. Frank Dreben (Leslie Nielsen) and Jane Spencer-Dreben (Priscilla Presley) are now married (hence her name change), but are searching for a spark that will spice up their sex lives, partly because Jane is hopeful that they may be able to have a child (or, as Frank says later on, a "little Frank Junior"; the visual of what he could look like is hilarious). But Frank's spirit is slightly down, partly because, as we see, he has recently retired from the Police Squad. Fortunately for him, his old friends Ed Hocken (George Kennedy) and Det. Nordberg (O.J. Simpson) pay him a visit and explain that they need a little assistance in an ongoing investigation. Frank is reluctant to get involved given his retirement, but does admit that he misses the old job - and, as Ed points out, "(Frank hasn't) shot anyone in six months", to which Frank replies "That's true. Funny how you miss the little things."

So, Frank gets involved, but when Jane learns of his participation, she leaves him. Unusually, Frank tries to cover up his undercover work by suggesting that he was with another woman, but Jane humorously takes no notice and is more concerned with him getting involved in stopping crime again. As the story rolls on, we learn that a new villain (Rocco Dillon, played by Fred Ward) is planning to escape from Statesville Prison and, with the help of his team of cronies, he plans a major incident. To try and stop this, Frank offers to go to jail as a pretend criminal, get on Rocco's side and help him with his plot, with the intention of stopping it from within and alerting Police Squad of what is planned.

Eventually, we discover that the plan is to blow up the venue of the Academy Awards. By now, Jane is back on the scene, but the question remains: how can Frank and co prevent this explosion happening? Their attempts are not as difficult as one may expect in terms of turning things in their favour but, without obtaining the smoking gun, disaster is still guaranteed. A staple of the Naked Gun trilogy is how Frank's efforts to stop a tragedy occuring are ridiculously over-the-top yet riotously entertaining, and this movie is probably the funniest of the three in that regard: if you haven't seen this film, these scenes will provoke almost constant laughter. But the big question is: does the Police Squad succeed in their final big-screen outing? And, despite their trials and tribulations, do Frank and Jane finally get their "little Frank Junior"?

As stated, The Naked Gun trilogy ends in a great way here. Unlike some trilogies which try to resolve ongoing plot mysteries, none are required here: it simply allows the cast to do what they do best, and that's try to prevent chaos in a hilarious fashion. The only real link between all three movies concerns the evolution of the relationship between Frank and Jane and, in that respect, the ending should satisfy. There is a slight weakness in this movie in that, more than in the previous two, the plot at times takes a back seat to comedy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing considering that it is a comedy; however, it does mean that some jokes have that "trying too hard" feel to them, although there are a ton of laugh-out-loud moments.

It's hard to say whether this should have been the end for The Naked Gun or not. This entry proves that there was still a lot of life left in the trilogy; it didn't really feel stale, and the jokes are as funny as ever. But perhaps it was best to let it end while they were still really, really entertaining, and to not let it continue and eventually become a shell of its former self (as was the case for other film series', such as Police Academy). And this allows the Frank Dreben character to go out on a high, or at least a high by the standards of his character and the world that he operates within.

Leslie Neilsen died on November 28 2010, aged 84. It was a great loss to the world of both movie and comedy that such a funny man would leave us, despite his advanced years. And it did feel weird when I first watched these movies again after his death. But whilst we won't receive any further entertainment from Neilsen, we can always look back on his work and savour the moments when he was utterly hilarious. Renowned at first for being a serious actor, the Canadian eventually became the comic actor who we all remember him as. He also shone in other movies, most notably Airplane! But he will be most remembered for his brilliant role as Lt. Frank Dreben in the three Naked Gun movies. Comedies will continue to be churned out, and many will be hilarious, but to this writer, none will ever be as complete a comedy package as The Naked Gun trilogy, and no comedy performer will ever be as funny in a movie setting than Leslie Neilsen as Lieutenant Frank Dreben.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10 - Classic

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell Of Fear

Image Source: Wikipedia

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Director: David Zucker
Producer: Robert K. Weiss
Scriptwriters: David Zucker and Pat Proft
Main Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson and Robert Goulet
Released: June 28 1991
Running Time: 81 Minutes
Certificate: 15

The sequel to The Naked Gun (as you may have guessed given its title), the second Naked Gun film sees the old crew return as they encounter a new yet similar quandary to that of the original picture: the US President at the time, George H W Bush (played by John Roarke), plans to base his recommendation for America's renewable energy programme on the advice of Dr. Albert Meinheimer (Richard Griffiths). This upsets those in the oil, coal and nuclear industries, including Quentin Hapsburg (Robert Goulet). Their solution: replace Albert with their own double for Meinheimer, Earl Hacker (also played by Griffiths, funnily enough). The switch is in line with Albert's energy announcement at the upcoming National Press Club dinner.

However, the Police Squad, led again by Lt. Frank Dreben (Leslie Neilsen), get wind of the plot and attempt to prevent it, whilst at the same time dealing with Hapsburg's hired goons. It all leads to the dinner itself, where their evil plot has to be foiled, but there's a twist: in the event of his plan failing, Hapsburg has a bomb planted to take everybody out, including the President. Once again, it's up to Dreben and co to stop it all happening, but events along the way mean that the Squad may not even get into the dinner. How will they do it?

Frank's romance with Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley) is renewed here: Jane now works for Dr. Meinheimer, and they reacquaint when Frank explores the possibility of a plot against the good doctor. We aren't told why Frank and Jane hadn't seen each other since the first film, but it does result in this classic exchange:

Frank: "How are the children?"

Jane: "We didn't have any children."

Worryingly for Frank, though, she has a new boyfriend, who is none other than Hapsburg. Frank's attempts to rekindle his love for Jane are again turbulent, but are less prominent than in the first movie, and all involved know whose side they are on by the time of the climax.

The sequel to The Naked Gun is slightly less into telling a story and more about providing funny lines and moments. And in the vein of the first film, there is a wealth of entertainment to be found here. The Squad and Jane are all played by the same cast, so expect the same kind of one-liners, humorous visuals and hammy expressions.

Image Source: Neon Reels

(By the way. this entry into the series also features Frank's all-time best facial, as seen to the right).

I don't want to give too much away, but I will simply say that if you enjoyed the first Naked Gun then you will love this movie. And, if you read my previous review, you'll know that I am a huge fan of the trilogy and of Leslie's work in particular, so yes I found this to be a hilarious comedy, the humour for which still holds up and always will in the future.

I mark it down a smudgeon just because the increased emphasis on humour means that the believability of one or two comedy moments is stretched and, whilst still funny, those jokes feel a bit forced. Overall, though, this is another exceptional chapter in the Naked Gun trilogy which will more than satisfy fans of the original, and fortunately the series wasn't over there, as I will document in a future review.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10 - Classic

The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad!

Image Source: Wikipedia
(Copyright: Paramount Pictures, the
film publisher or graphic artist.)

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Director: David Zucker
Producer: Robert K. Weiss
Scriptwriters: Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Pat Proft
Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan
Main Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalbán, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson and Nancy Marchand
Released: December 2 1988 (US) and February 10 1989 (UK)
Running Time: 85 Minutes
Certificate: 15

I am personally a huge fan of comedies, and the Naked Gun trilogy is one of my absolute favourites. As such, when I decided to re-watch the first Naked Gun for the purpose of a review, I was slightly nervous in case my own nostalgic memories of the movie may have hindered my viewing experience or, at least, influenced my review. Fortunately, I need not have worried: the whole film is one gigantic gem.

To set the stage, this movie is an extension of the previous cult TV series Police Squad! Leslie Nielsen remains the star as Lt. Frank Dreben, but two roles have changed: his main detective partner Capt. Ed Hocken is played here by George Kennedy, and Det. Nordberg is now played by O.J. Simpson - an awkward casting in hindsight, although the trilogy would be over before this was an issue.

Unlike the short episodes of Police Squad, this is a feature-length movie (obviously) which has several story arcs, but two are most dominant: the possible attempt by Vincent Ludwig (played by Ricardo Montalbán) to arrange an assassination of Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Los Angeles, with Dreben continuously trying to find evidence of such a plot with ridiculous results; and Frank falling in love with Ludwig's associate Jane Spencer, although their romance encounters a few bumps along the road.

There are a couple of other storylines of note, which include Nordberg's difficulties to recover from a previous attack (that being said, some of these problems are hilariously due to Frank's own incompetence). It all comes down to a major baseball game where Dreben knows a murder attempt is likely - but trying to convince Mayor Barkley (played by Nancy Marchand), who doesn't want anything to do with Frank by this point, that the plot is genuine, and more importantly Frank's attempts to get involved so that he can try to prevent the assassination attempt, present challenges that seem impossible for him to overcome. His methods are totally daft and riotously funny - but will he succeed?

The plot sounds simple, but it works very well; however, the real strength of this movie is in the slapstick comedy. If you have never seen this film before and plan to watch it, you will be laughing from the first minute to the last at a variety of physical and verbal quips. It is a film that isn't very violent, doesn't have too much swearing, only has occasional sex references - and, yet, this film should be a draw to adults who simply want to have their funny bone tickled.

Central to the humour is Leslie Nielsen. I was a big fan of his work, but it is in the Naked Gun trilogy that he shines brightest. He brings to life the character of a police detective who is bumbling and often causes more harm than good, yet we never feel rage or apathy towards him. He always has good intentions, he comes across as a genuinely nice and polite man (a rare breed amongst police characters dealing with deadly criminals), and in the end, somehow or someway, he nearly always makes good on his promises.

But what really makes the Dreben character, and Neilsen's portrayal of it, is the very frequent humour. His one-liners come thick and fast, made funnier by the 'that was odd but I won't question it' facial reactions of those in his presence at the time, and, most importantly, his own deadpan delivery of these quotes. There are so many that they tend to have you still laughing by the time you hear another one. I could provide a list of the best jokes, but instead I'll let you watch the film; I don't want to spoil lines that, during the movie, will frequently give you the giggles. In fact, you'd probably have to watch the film several times to hear all the jokes, since you'll probably miss some due to the sound of your own laughter.

As stated, Neilsen is marvellous in this role. Some comedy actors sport an expression that says “I'm funny and I know it.” Not Neilsen: he is funny - really funny - but he approaches the role of Dreben as an actor playing a comedy character. This means that despite the sheer daftness of his lines and situations, he never once looks like he is dying to laugh; he manages to keep a straight face and a calm, confident delivery throughout, as do his fellow cast members. Best of all may be Neilsen's range of facial expressions, from utter confusion to disgust to my favourite, his 'everything's great' grin; that smile alone would be enough to have an audience laughing wildly. If you don't believe me, watch him and you'll soon agree. The casting of Neilsen here and in the original Police Squad! series is superb as he is a constant shining light in what was the greatest role of the career.

The supporting cast also put in strong performances. Priscilla Presley plays the Jane character well: she is emotional but not overly so, she reacts to ridiculous situations in the same, understated way that Frank does, and while she plays second fiddle to Dreben on the humour scales, she does have a few funny lines or situations herself which are all her. Frank's fellow police officers are good too, and even Jeannette Charles, who plays the Queen, delivers a humorous visual of Her Majesty joining in a Mexican Wave whilst the rest of her entourage do not. But make no mistake about it, Leslie Neilsen is the absolute star of this motion picture; he takes a funny film and, with his character and performance, elevates it into all-time great territory.

The film is produced by David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, which explains the daft situations and slapstick comedy as silly humour is their forte, but they do it well as evidenced here. In this case, they not only include intentionally stupid jokes and visuals but also standalone moments which, in another context, may lower the tone of the production but, here, they fit in well. From a tiger attacking a baseball player in an archive video to Dreben hanging off the edge of a building by a statue's, er, member, this movie delivers so many different situations that are produced perfectly and are almost all hilarious that you will struggle to find a favourite moment because there are so many contenders.

Overall, then, The Naked Gun is as good as I remembered it all those years ago (if not better since I now get some gags that I didn't understand when I was younger). It is a classic 1980s comedy which hits far, far more than it misses with its humour. The premise is simple, the jokes are often and at times outrageously funny, and although it is by its very nature a daft film, it makes enough sense to leave one feeling satisfied with developments and with the conclusion. But it is the career performance of Leslie Neilsen in his greatest role as Lt. Frank Drebin which takes this from what would have been a really funny film anyway to a truly perfect comedy (as evidenced by the rating below).

Overall Rating: 10/10 – Perfect