The Naked Gun (1988)

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It's unfortunate, but over the past decade plus, the concept of this kind of satirical movie has been run into the ground with the terrible, what I refer to as, 'Movie' movies ('Epic Movie,' 'Disaster Movie' etc) and other very low-brow takes that often show off more of a toilet humour/violent slapstick narrative than clever humour with small side of those things. For that, we have to go back in time to where the more silly "Dad jokes" were in a movie, the funnier it was, with very little need to be raunchy.

Having said that, however, this series hasn't aged well in other ways, much like most 80s and 90s comedy, which often features a few controversial gags and jokes. However, nothing stands out more nowadays than the almost unfortunately hilarious performance by none other than O.J. Simpson as Detective Nordberg. The viewer has to constantly remind themselves that the whole trial that took over the mid-90s is still a few years off (although '33 1/3' was released just months before the Bronco chase).

After the now-famous opening credit sequence (the police siren literally chewing up the scenery as it drives through people's lives with the odd movie parody), the film opens with Nordberg on a heroin-busting mission, sneaking onto drug lord Vincent Ludwig's (Ricardo Montalban) houseboat, complete with dark clothing, gloves, and a beanie. Ludwig's henchmen shoot Nordberg, and Police Squad Lieutenant Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) gets briefed on the situation involving his friend by his Captain, Ed Hocken (George Kennedy).

Drebin further learns that the surviving Nordberg's jacket tests positive for the presence of heroin. Meanwhile, Police Squad gets put in charge of security for the upcoming visit of Queen Elizabeth II (Jeannette Charles). Drebin has 24 hours to clear Nordberg, lest the case detracts from the Queen's visit. As he searches for the real culprits of the drug trafficking and attempted assassination of Nordberg, he meets the lovely Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley), assistant to Ludwig, and falls in love. However, he also unravels a plot to assassinate the Queen upon her upcoming visit.

While there's enough of a plot to follow throughout the film, much like it is with other comedies in this satirical category, the laughs feel considerably more critical, and the overall story takes a back seat. This movie comes to us from a six-episode run show called 'Police Squad,' (which I highly recommend if you enjoy these films) which is something that clearly establishes that a plot for this kind of thing is a little more basic than most cop features, and feature less of a true mystery, as it distracts from the many laughs we came to have.

In this day and age, many jokes and gags fall under the "Dad joke" category, so it's uncertain whether kids today would appreciate them as much as my generation did. The edge to this is dull by today's standards, and again, we see O.J. Simpson in a very different light now than we did back then, when he was simply a solid running back with a sense of humour. There's just something so awkward about enjoying his performance here now, and it's a primary example of needing to separate the art from the artist. At the very least, bear in mind that what really makes these movies work is Leslie Nielsen.

At the end of the day, it's that concept of bringing an otherwise serious actor in to do comedy, which is precisely why Liam Neeson was such a solid choice for the latest 2025 movie, following in Nielsen's footsteps almost perfectly. His performance, along with several corny jokes and gags, is enough to make one appreciate that sometimes a little stupidity done on purpose can go a long way in delivering a solid comedy. This is at least partly responsible for my love of random humour. It's further proof that sometimes throwing our brains out the window for a laugh feels just right.

4/5

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