"I want a parody or a comedy to make me chill, not to make me realize how one-sided and twisted the world is."
That's from my review of "Hot Shots!", a film I used to enjoy as a teenager but that didn't exactly grow on me as I expected. From Charlie Sheen's wooden performance to rather racist undertones (all right, 90s American movies weren't exactly Arab-friendly but still...) the film didn't make for a pleasant experience when I saw it again three years ago and as an alibi, I brandished the other 1991 movie from the ZAZ team: the sequel to "The Naked Gun", well, that one I loved and man, if you look for a good no-brainer so dumb it reaches a level of genius and with so many gags you won't be able to keep track on them, just be my guest.
In fact the review could end here, just watch the film, it is really funny.
But let's dig a bit deeper, 1991 was for the Zucker brothers like 1974 for Mel Brooks when he made both "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles", perhaps the peak of their inspiration and these two 1991 films, would be followed by two less-successful sequels, so maybe we got to a sort of culmination point here after which the late (and much beloved) Leslie Nielsen wouldn't be given much interesting roles, no matter how hard they'll try. So "The Naked Gun 22½ : the Smell of Fear" is a momentum of parody humor to contemplate and appreciate in its own context, before the Farrelly brothers and before Jim Carrey and Mike Meyers make their entrance.
The reason I'm going all "history of movies" about this is because it's useless to enumerate the gags that pop up every half millisecond during the film, some are so dumb we can't believe we laugh at them, some are so predictable we're happy when they happen, when they don't, it's generally because something funnier is happening. For instance, a big explosion left many chalk outlines in the crime setting and while it's hilarious enough to see one on the ceiling, the gag is exploited like a pocket until it runs out of gold, a similar overlong gag is used in the "Blue Note" bar where everything exists for the sole purpose of making the customers more depressed than ever, from the songs to the pictures hanging on the wall. And finally, one of these gags actually have a substantial contribution to the plot, I'll only say it involves wild animals.
Naturally, we have the obvious dialogues when one comically misses the point, Frank taking answers too literally such as whn Ed (George Kennedy) says "sex, Frank?" or a woman with a generous cleavage asking if "this is a bust?", what do you expect, the gags will lose half of their comical juice if they're taken out of context or if we started explaining why they're funny. I guess the film works because we just love Lt. Frank Drebin, it's fun to see a man goofing up a bit, being stupider than we are, being alone (since Jane left him) making jokes we can understand and occasionally, giving a bad time to the White House occupants.
While "Hot Shots" seemed to target a certain Gulf country, it's an interesting counterbalancing effect to have a plot involving a government decision to implement ecological energy not to the enthusiasm of "big oils" (no pun intended) of industrial lobbies who'll look forward to preventing any chance of an endorsement from a respected analyst (Richard Griffith). These guys are good villains because in real life, they're the ones who pull the strings and make war happen. Above them all, the big bad guy is played by Robert Goulet, he's got the suaveness that makes you hate him instantly stealing the heart of Jane and having no contempt for the future of our planet. Not that Frank cares but he loves Jane enough to care.
And so Jane, Priscilla Presley is here, so is Kennedy, Jacqueline Brookes as the Commissioner and O.J. Simpson before he wasn't a case.... And if you think Nordberg had a hard time, wait till you see the sequel (well, actually, I think he had it pretty bad in the first). What else to say? this film doesn't aim the Oscar for Best Screenplay, it's not on the level of the predecessor or "Top Secret!" or "Airplane!" but it's got Leslie Nielsen, countless gags and the good old police siren during the opening credits.
That's from my review of "Hot Shots!", a film I used to enjoy as a teenager but that didn't exactly grow on me as I expected. From Charlie Sheen's wooden performance to rather racist undertones (all right, 90s American movies weren't exactly Arab-friendly but still...) the film didn't make for a pleasant experience when I saw it again three years ago and as an alibi, I brandished the other 1991 movie from the ZAZ team: the sequel to "The Naked Gun", well, that one I loved and man, if you look for a good no-brainer so dumb it reaches a level of genius and with so many gags you won't be able to keep track on them, just be my guest.
In fact the review could end here, just watch the film, it is really funny.
But let's dig a bit deeper, 1991 was for the Zucker brothers like 1974 for Mel Brooks when he made both "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles", perhaps the peak of their inspiration and these two 1991 films, would be followed by two less-successful sequels, so maybe we got to a sort of culmination point here after which the late (and much beloved) Leslie Nielsen wouldn't be given much interesting roles, no matter how hard they'll try. So "The Naked Gun 22½ : the Smell of Fear" is a momentum of parody humor to contemplate and appreciate in its own context, before the Farrelly brothers and before Jim Carrey and Mike Meyers make their entrance.
The reason I'm going all "history of movies" about this is because it's useless to enumerate the gags that pop up every half millisecond during the film, some are so dumb we can't believe we laugh at them, some are so predictable we're happy when they happen, when they don't, it's generally because something funnier is happening. For instance, a big explosion left many chalk outlines in the crime setting and while it's hilarious enough to see one on the ceiling, the gag is exploited like a pocket until it runs out of gold, a similar overlong gag is used in the "Blue Note" bar where everything exists for the sole purpose of making the customers more depressed than ever, from the songs to the pictures hanging on the wall. And finally, one of these gags actually have a substantial contribution to the plot, I'll only say it involves wild animals.
Naturally, we have the obvious dialogues when one comically misses the point, Frank taking answers too literally such as whn Ed (George Kennedy) says "sex, Frank?" or a woman with a generous cleavage asking if "this is a bust?", what do you expect, the gags will lose half of their comical juice if they're taken out of context or if we started explaining why they're funny. I guess the film works because we just love Lt. Frank Drebin, it's fun to see a man goofing up a bit, being stupider than we are, being alone (since Jane left him) making jokes we can understand and occasionally, giving a bad time to the White House occupants.
While "Hot Shots" seemed to target a certain Gulf country, it's an interesting counterbalancing effect to have a plot involving a government decision to implement ecological energy not to the enthusiasm of "big oils" (no pun intended) of industrial lobbies who'll look forward to preventing any chance of an endorsement from a respected analyst (Richard Griffith). These guys are good villains because in real life, they're the ones who pull the strings and make war happen. Above them all, the big bad guy is played by Robert Goulet, he's got the suaveness that makes you hate him instantly stealing the heart of Jane and having no contempt for the future of our planet. Not that Frank cares but he loves Jane enough to care.
And so Jane, Priscilla Presley is here, so is Kennedy, Jacqueline Brookes as the Commissioner and O.J. Simpson before he wasn't a case.... And if you think Nordberg had a hard time, wait till you see the sequel (well, actually, I think he had it pretty bad in the first). What else to say? this film doesn't aim the Oscar for Best Screenplay, it's not on the level of the predecessor or "Top Secret!" or "Airplane!" but it's got Leslie Nielsen, countless gags and the good old police siren during the opening credits.