Written by: Jerry Zucker & Jim Abrahams & David Zucker & Pat Proft (written by), Jim Abrahams & David Zucker & Jerry Zucker (television series "Police Squad")
Directed by: David Zucker
Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, OJ Simpson, 'Weird Al' Yankovic
Rated: PG-13
Plot
Incompetent police detective Frank Drebin must foil an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.
Verdict
This is a silly movie. Everything is over the top, and it's a style of comedy that we don't see much of anymore. It gave way to spoof movies that possess no actual content, instead regurgitating scenes others created.
Full of exaggerations, non sequiturs, and gags, this movie always plays it straight, taking even the most ludicrous of situations seriously or turning it around on the viewer and subverting our expectations. This is a cop movie first, making fun of the usual tropes second. It's utterly silly, and if you like that, you will love this movie.
It depends.
Review
This spawned a trilogy of films, based on the short-lived ABC television series Police Squad!, which was cancelled after six episodes. It's hard not to put this movie against what followed, the Scary Movie types. The Naked Gun spoofed tropes. Scary Movie spoofs entire scenes, stringing them together until the ninety minute mark is reached. While this certainly has a high degree of creativity, I've never liked the silly humor genre. I get why people think this is funny, much like how I understand why people like Airplane!, it just isn't for me. It's also the type that becomes more funny after watching it multiple times and being able to play the game along with the movie.
It's slap stick, dead pan humor. It's a relic of it's time more than anything else. While I don't know what the opening credits are referencing, I'm sure there are opening credits to a cop show that following the flashing lights. This takes it a step further by having the car defy logic to enter a house and later end up on a roller coaster. There are a lot of jokes based on how obtuse Frank Drebin is and Nielson plays the part well. Frequently we're lured into expecting one thing, based on innuendo are colloquial phrases, and the joke it to make it literal. Drebin is searching for a clue and opens a drawer exclaiming, "Bingo!" We may think he's found the clue, but he's found a bingo card.
Other jokes that take the one step further approach don't work as well. Baseball players spit and scratch their crotch, we need a scene exaggerating it with them doing it constantly. Even that provides a surprise with Reggie Jackson showing up.
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