The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

Having tackled the sketch comedy, the disaster movie, and the spy thriller, perhaps it was inevitable that the team of David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams would choose to spoof the procedural crime drama. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, a cinematic spinoff of the canceled 1982 TV series Police Squad!, sends up shows like Dragnet and M Squad, and just like with The Kentucky Fried Movie, the Airplane! films, and Top Secret!, it’s done in the goofiest and most absurd ways possible. The more obvious and anything-for-a-laugh the joke, the better. That’s the formula of Abraham’s and the Zucker brothers, and they’re sticking to it. Although that makes these films funny, it also makes them very hard to review. How is a critic to give a serious appraisal to a movie that’s anything but serious?

Leslie Nielsen reprises his role of Frank Drebin, a bumbling lieutenant for the LAPD. While trying to clear the name of his comatose partner Nordberg (O.J. Simpson), who may have gotten mixed up with an underworld heroin operation, Drebin learns of an international plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II (Jeanette Charles) during her goodwill visit to Los Angeles. He has reason to suspect that wealthy businessman Vincent Ludwig (Ricardo Montalban) may know something about it, and about the attempt on Nordberg’s life. As this plays out, Drebin meets and immediately falls in love with Ludwig’s assistant Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley). For the most part, she’s a sweet romantic partner. But Jerry Zucker, also the director, isn’t above making her a vague version of a femme fatale if it serves the comedic purposes of the scene.

Having just described the plot, I’m wondering why I bothered. Airplane! and Top Secret! also had plots, but only as a clothesline to hang the silliest gags the filmmakers could muster, from cartoon slapstick to innuendo to one liners to absurd visuals. The Naked Gun is no different. The intention is not to have us care about Drebin’s partner or an assassination plot or a love story, but to make the audience laugh by just about any means possible. And so it does. Of course, comedy is subjective, which is to say that audiences with more refined senses of humor will not be as receptive. I guess I’m not so refined, because I laughed all throughout this movie. I think what I appreciated the most was the filmmakers’ willingness to aim low. The sophisticated wit of writers like Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain has its place, although it’s far less likely to appeal to the average moviegoer.

Some of the best jokes were the most transparent. For instance, Drebin opens a desk drawer while searching Ludwig’s office; “Bingo,” he exclaims, after which he reaches in and holds up a Bingo card. There’s also Jane’s introduction, which starts out as graceful and sexy at the top of a staircase, then becomes comical when she trips and falls the rest of the way. We don’t see the fall itself, but we do see Drebin’s gaze as it follows the fall’s progress. And then there’s an amusing shot that intentionally breaks an illusion filmmakers typically work to maintain; when Drebin and another cop, Ed Hocken (George Kennedy), walk from one room to another, the camera follows as Hocken goes through the door while Drebin walks around the false half-wall of the set.

Some of the more risqué gags exemplify why the film received a PG-13 rating. One scene indulges in pure scatology; when Drebin takes a restroom break during a press conference, he doesn’t realize his portable mic is still attached to his jacket, and so every member of the press can hear his loud and abnormally long urination. And then there’s a scene where Drebin is on the ledge of a high rise, the outer stone walls of which are adorned with anatomically correct male and female carvings; his constant groping for secure holdings means he will repeatedly grab on to breasts and penises, one of the latter maneuvered so strongly that it turns upwards. Adding to the absurdity, the face of that particular carving is shown to be sporting a big, happy grin.

If I had to single out my favorite joke, it’s actually one of the verbal ones. When the Mayor of Los Angeles (Nancy Marchand) warns Drebin against a repeat of an unfortunate park incident, Drebin responds by saying it’s acceptable to shoot anyone that publicly stabs a person while dressed in togas. “That was a Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar, you moron!” the Mayor claps back. This is the kind of goofiness Abrahams and the Zuckers have made a name for themselves with. If this formula works for them, what reason would they have to go in a different direction? The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! is a delightful entry in their wacky, utterly inane series of spoofs. If your comedic tastes are more highbrow and esoteric, save yourself the trouble and see another movie.