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Acting
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Directing
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Story
Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalban
Director: David Zucker
Running Time: 85 mins
The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad! is an American film about an incompetent LA detective who is assigned to the security force for the visiting Queen Elizabeth II, only to realise that she is in danger of assassination.
Obviously, coming from the same guys who brought you Airplane!, you can expect a lot of farce, slapstick and idiocy from this film. Luckily, it still delivers to a high standard, with great performances, consistently funny comedy and a totally ridiculous story that fits so perfectly into the manic atmosphere of this film.
Let’s start in a place that you wouldn’t think would be so important in a film as silly as this, the performances. The reason that they’re so much more significant here is that the writing in this film is not so strong; in Airplane!, you got slapstick and clever writing, however here it’s just slapstick.
However, Leslie Nielsen is as hilarious and idiotic as usual, Ricardo Montalban is a perfectly silly villain, and Priscilla Presley does a fantastic job as the farcical femme fatale, genuinely likeable as well as convincingly seductive, and along with a whole host of good supporting performances, this film was kept together pretty well.
Anyway, onto the comedy, and to be honest, there’s very little to say about it, because it is so stupid. This goes beyond anything you’ll have seen in other parody comedies, and becomes the most explicitly pun-filled and fun-pilled (that doesn’t make any sense) film you’ll ever see, however it’s that excessively idiotic nature that really turns it into such an entertaining watch.
The story is also beyond ridiculous. Lt. Frank Drebin is so incompetent, yet so easy to support due to his oddly endearing nature, and that does make the story a little more exciting in some of the more ‘tension’-packed parts, meaning that this film isn’t only about the classically silly comedy, and that’s why it gets a 7.6.
