Culture
Now Playing: ‘The Naked Gun’ is a funny movie that hits its mark
By: Gordon Briggs
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One of the best parts about being an avid filmgoer is being in a crowded theater where everyone is laughing along with a movie. In the aftermath of Covid lockdowns and with our growing isolation from one another, it’s reassuring to know that for 90 minutes sitting in the dark together, we all still find the same thing to be funny.
That was one of the pleasures of seeing the new Naked Gun movie in the theater. It’s both a solid reboot of a previous comedy franchise and an entertainingly absurd spoof of police movies. It’s a comedy that largely works because it preserves the absurd tone and rapid-fire pace of its predecessors.
The premise is simple. We follow Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (the son of Leslie Nielson’s bumbling detective from the previous movies), who must carry on in his father’s footsteps and solve a case that threatens to shut down the beloved ‘Police Squad’. Of course, the plot is really just an excuse to give us a series of ridiculous comedic gags, each of which seems designed to mock the stoned-face machismo and over-the-top theatrics of Hollywood action movies. Usually, when a popular comedy is rebooted, it attempts to update the material at the expense of what made the original film so funny. Thankfully, the filmmakers know exactly what made the original Naked Gun work.
What frees the audience to laugh so heartily is Naked Gun’s rapid-fire pace of jokes. Most comedies I’ve seen will build a sequence around one or two jokes. In this movie, a scene will begin and there will be visual and verbal gags. Jokes will be going on in the background and in the foreground. Sequences will be built around sight gags, wordplay, and non-sequiturs that can be understood by children, teenagers, or grown-ups, and if one joke doesn’t land, there are a dozen more in the chamber ready to be fired at us. For example, there’s a laugh-out-loud montage where Dreebin and his romantic interest (played memorably by Pamela Anderson) build a snowman while on a romantic getaway, only to have the snowman come alive and turn into a jealous lover.
The original movies benefited greatly from the presence of Leslie Nielsen. Whether it was famous roles in films like the original Naked Gun or Airplane, part of the comic tension was generated from how Leslie Nielson delivered absurd lines and reacted to insane events with such stone-faced seriousness that we only laughed harder at what we saw. That strategy of using an actor’s seriousness as a vehicle for laughter explains why Liam Neeson was such a good choice. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Neeson play the stoic, gravel-voiced butt-kicker with a ‘certain set of skills’. So, after years of playing it straight, the actor is the perfect choice to play the bumbling detective. Of course, I don’t want to leave out Pamela Anderson, the actress has skilled comic timing and isn’t afraid to look completely ridiculous as Neeson’s love interest.
If there’s a gripe, it’s a minor one regarding the time period each film was released in. The original Naked Gun was making fun of a certain type of cop movie that was all the rage in the ’80s and ’90s. It was making fun of the era in which it was released. This new Naked Gun is making fun of the same thing, but that era has passed. This Gun is making fun of the way movies were, rather than the way movies are. Still, this was a fun time at the movies that you should seek out if you want to laugh with a crowd. Rating: ★ ★ ★1⁄2