Liam Neeson’s reboot has revived interest in The Naked Gun, so that a new generation of fans can discover the hilarity of the detective spoof. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad is one of the funniest ’80s comedies, and its rapid-fire style of humor has aged brilliantly.
Hilarious parody movies like The Naked Gun are vanishingly rare these days. With any luck, the reboot will resurrect this genre, so that movies like Austin Powers, Spaceballs and Young Frankenstein will be popular once again. For now, it’s a good thing that the original trilogy is still so funny.
The Naked Gun is also famous for Leslie Nielsen’s brilliant performance as incompetent cop Frank Drebin. Nielsen is a master of deadpan humor in The Naked Gun, turning many of the movie’s best jokes into unforgettable classics. The Naked Gun reboot honors Nielsen, but nothing compares to watching him at work.
10
Weird Al’s Cameo
Weird Al Yankovic appears in each of the Naked Gun movies, and he even has a brief cameo appearance in the Naked Gun reboot to keep the franchise tradition alive. His first cameo is arguably the funniest of them all, as a crowd of admirers greets him at the airport. Frank, naturally, assumes the reporters and fans are there for him.
Weird Al is only on screen for a moment, but his mere presence is the perfect punch line. There aren’t many celebrities who would have been a funnier choice in this scene. Seeing Weird Al being showered with love at the airport like he’s a member of The Beatles sums up the absurd world of The Naked Gun.
9
“Nothing To See Here. Please Disperse.”
Frank Drebin is the most inept cop imaginable. Not only does he get the most important elements of his job catastrophically wrong, but he also bumbles through the minute everyday tasks of being a detective. Something as simple as crowd control is another chance for failure in the hands of Frank Drebin.
After an action-packed chase in the back seat of a driving student’s car, Frank sees his suspect careen into a fireworks shop, setting off a colorful explosion. His pitiful attempts to move on the crowd that quickly gathers highlight his complete lack of situational awareness. He’s only repeating what he’s seen other cops saying, without grasping the context.
8
“Where The Hell Was I?”
Frank’s internal monologue provides some of the funniest jokes in the Naked Gun trilogy, spoofing old hard-boiled film noir detective stories and crime serials. There are a lot of great gags when he’s describing Jane, but his monologue can also be a sneaky way of providing exposition when necessary.
One of Frank’s best internal monologue lines comes when he’s pondering the questions hanging over his investigation while wandering the streets of Los Angeles. It’s a classic detective trope, but Frank walks so far that he runs out of sidewalk and gets lost. Fortunately, the Naked Gun reboot keeps this running gag alive.
7
“Look Ed, He’s Got A Picture Of Your Wife.”
With Police Squad providing security for Queen Elizabeth’s reception, Frank takes it upon himself to start frisking the guests. What he doesn’t realize is that he’s reaching into the wrong man’s pockets, which makes it seem as though an unsuspecting guest is carrying Ed’s gun and wallet.
It’s a simple gag, but it works wonderfully, thanks in part to the clear framing. The dramatic irony is what makes this scene stand out. There are often other characters who can point out Frank’s absurdity, but Ed is just as culpable in this instance. Only the audience knows how Frank is making a mess of everything once again.
6
Shakespeare In The Park
The Naked Gun movies are stuffed wall-to-wall with great jokes, and there are even references to events that aren’t shown on screen. The fact that the audience is left to picture Frank’s shooting at a Shakespeare in the park production of Julius Caesar is probably even funnier than it would be in the movie.
“Well, when I see five weirdos dressed in togas stabbing a guy in the middle of the park in full view of 100 people, I shoot the bastards. That’s my policy.” – Frank Drebin recounts his Shakespeare in the park shooting
Frank’s back-and-forth with Mayor Barkley shows that he has a long track record of causing public disasters for the city of Los Angeles. She’s one of the few characters in The Naked Gun who doesn’t have any jokes, only acting as a foil to Frank’s bottomless stupidity.
5
Frank Interrogates The Harbor Master
The Naked Gun shows Frank failing to negotiate several key duties of a detective’s job. He bumbles through his questioning of suspects, accrues expensive damages whenever he’s out on the streets and just about causes an international incident with Queen Elizabeth. Even trying to gain information from a witness is done in the most roundabout way possible.
Frank meets his match when he goes to interrogate the harbor master about the ship that Nordberg describes. He finds a character who’s just as illogical as he is, so they engage in a bizarre negotiation which involves bribing each other for information, even using the same exact bills.
4
Frank’s Driving
Frank’s terrible driving is one of the funniest running gags in The Naked Gun. It mostly happens in the background, as Frank barrels over a fire hydrant or slams into a trash can as he parks his car, but this makes it even funnier. Pretty much every time Frank is at the wheel, he nearly kills somebody without batting an eye.
The one exception comes when Frank’s airbag deploys, setting the car in gear as he steps out. The car races down the street, narrowly avoiding several pedestrians while Frank fires his gun. It’s a perfect visual metaphor for the way that Frank creates his own problems and tries to play the hero.
3
“It’s Enrico Pallazzo!”
Frank’s antics at the baseball game reach a new level of absurdity during the third act of The Naked Gun. In a desperate attempt to identify which of the players is planning to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, Frank first disguises himself as a famous opera singer for a horrible rendition of the national anthem, and then the head umpire.
Frank’s terrible singing gets the perfect callback later on, when he triumphantly ditches the umpire’s mask to reveal his true identity. A random baseball fan gets one of the movie’s best lines, but what’s even funnier is that the entire crowd erupts into cheers and chants for Enrico Pallazzo.
2
“My Father Went The Same Way.”
The Naked Gun saves one of its best jokes for the end, dispatching its villain with a ludicrously extravagant death scene. After Ludwig is thrown from the top of a stadium, hit by a truck, flattened by a steamroller and stomped on by a full marching band, Ed caps the scene with a hilarious punch line.
Ed often plays the straight man in his dynamic with Frank, so it’s fun to see them switch roles right at the end of the movie. Suddenly it’s Frank who can’t believe the absurdity of what he’s hearing, leaving Ed an emotional wreck for a moment. Like many great comics, The Naked Gun ends with one of its biggest laughs.
1
“It’s The Same Old Story. Boy Finds Girl, Boy Loses Girl, Girl Finds Boy, Boy Forgets Girl, Boy Remembers Girl, Girl Dies In A Tragic Blimp Accident Over The Orange Bowl On New Year’s Day.”
Frank’s romance subplot with Jane is almost heartwarming in some scenes, but The Naked Gun always inserts a ridiculous joke when other movies would reach for something more earnest. A great example comes when Frank tells Jane about his lost love, even though he seems oblivious to the fact that she was routinely cheating on him.
Frank’s idea of the “same old story” is anything but. He rattles into a confusing story that ends with a flash of nonsense, which roughly sums up his best attempt at being sincere and heartfelt. This great punchline is immediately followed by another one of the movie’s best. “Goodyear?” Jane asks. Frank replies, stone-faced as ever, “No, it was the worst.“
