'The Naked Gun' is really fun
It’s an incredible and incredibly rare problem to be laughing so hard that you miss the next jokes a movie delivers before you calm down. That happens many times in “The Naked Gun,” a comedy that’s literally about getting people to calm up — which is better not explained here but, in a fittingly silly way, demonstrates what to expect.
Yet, actually, there’s no preparation for just how good Liam Neeson is as Frank Drebin Jr., whose dad (played by Leslie Nielsen) was a hilarious goofball but, embodied by an action hero, is as straightforward and intense as always … except for the amazingly ridiculous things the character says and does. So many lines are worth citing, but that would mean spoiling the jokes and ignoring the essential, extraordinary seriousness of Neeson’s comic timing. Director/co-writer Akiva Schaffer (“Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”) maintains the spirit of the original franchise (and the “Police Squad” series) without feeling formulaic or predictable, just goofy and hysterical. Pamela Anderson makes a strong match as author and femme fatale Beth Davenport, and experienced bad guy Danny Huston makes his biggest impression when allowed to be as absurd as Neeson.
At about 75 minutes, “The Naked Gun” could use just a little more story to extend the laughs while also turning the criminal agenda — (spoiler alert, kinda) rich jackass wants people to turn on each other — into something insightful rather than a sigh-inducing timely reference. There’s also not much for Paul Walter Hauser to do as Drebin’s sidekick, and probably one too many odd references to early 2000s pop culture.
But virtually no comedy nails every joke; that “The Naked Gun” delivers such a relentless comic delivery system and gets it right so often is a party that almost never exists anymore. Celebrate this one and tell your friends so we get more.
B+
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