Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult

It's rare for a cop movie to combine elements from "The Untouchables", "Thelma & Louise" and "The Brady Bunch".

Unless, of course, the lead character has a tendency to run his car into parking meters.

"The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult" brings the lofty trilogy to a close with the same old cast (Kennedy, Simpson, Presley) and slapstick antics involving a prison breakout, terrorist plot and the Oscars. And there in the center is Lt. Frank Drebin (Nielsen) on the verge of retirement and fighting with bad guys, shopping carts and Weird Al Yankovic while trying convince lovely wife Jane (Presley) that the spark in their relationship is still there.

How can you talk down a movie like this; it's as useless as putting up a tent in a windstorm, so they say. You have to enjoy stupidity, one-liners, gags and visual puns, as created by the ZAZ boys (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker) and delivered by a cast of pros (including Fred Ward and Pia Zadora!!), all with the tone of adolescence and insanity you've come to know and love.

And if you don't, why are you reading this?

Kudos go to Anna Nicole Smith, who makes her debut in movies here in a big way (sorry) and shows she is at her best when laughing at herself. Good job, Anna.

Favorite scene? I lost count after the first 10 minutes; it's an exercise in futility, every scene will make you chuckle, laugh, guffaw, roar and/or howl with delight. Besides, why spoil the fun?

And as for Nielsen...as always, he is THE MAN! Even when throwing up in a tuba.

Ten stars for a great "Final" trip down into Dumbville. And one star more for the very last scene - classic!

Thanks, Frank.

I have to say that this is one of the greatest comedy trilogies I have ever seen. Leslie Neilson has never stopped with the laughter and his fearless performance as Frank. Presilla does a fantastic job and her Thelma and Louise with Ellen Green was just memorable and fun to watch. OJ Simpson, the "downfall" I like to call it, because three months later came the murder trials.

Anna Nicole Smith was actually amusing in this film, I loved the crying game parody. There are a lot of great spoofs and jokes in the film. I think anyone who needs a good laugh or loves the Naked Gun movies should watch 33 1/3, it's just guaranteed of a good time.

8/10

Now former Lieutenant Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) has a tough time that he is not working with the Police Squad anymore and his wife Jane (Priscilla Presley) is now an lawyer. Although she wants a baby, he has a tough time getting her pregnant. His former partners (Oscar-Winner:George Kennedy and O.J. Simpson) wants Frank to spy on Tanya Peters (The late Anna Nicole Smith), since Tanya is involved with a hired bomb expert Rocco Dillon (Fred Ward). Which Dillon is in prison, at first Frank was supposed to get her address but he lost it. When Jane leaves him, thinking that Frank was fooling around with another woman. Frank decides to go undercover as a prisoner to get closer on Dillon. Frank knows that Dillon is planning to destroy and kill many of innocent people for a price but where ?

Directed by Peter Segal (The Nutty Professor 2:The Klumps, Anger Management, Tommy Boy) made an entertaining spoof comedy, based on the short-lived TV series back in the early 1980's. Nielsen is always an hoot in the lead. The cast seems to be having an great time. Although the reviews were mixed and at the box office was less promising than the first two but still, this was an major success on video. There's some lively cameos throughout the feature. If you are fan of these type of silly comedies or "The Naked Gun" movies, you will certainly enjoy it. Written by Pat Proft (The Naked Gun:From the Files of Police Squad!, Hot Shots! Part Deux, Scary Movie 3 & 4), David Zucker (An American Carol, High School High, Top Secret!) and Robert LoCash (CB4). (****/*****).

I thought this one was almost as good as the first film and a bit better than the second one. I liked the whole infiltration of the prison plot and the retirement aspect of the film more than all the politics of the second film. However, Leslie plays Drebin in a bit more of a goofy fashion this go around. There are also other things in this film that were not really in the first two installments like the scenes that parodied other movies. Scenes like these were not in the first two movies, from what I remember anyway, but there are a couple of them in this one. Such as the opening which parodies "The Untouchables" and a "Thelma and Louise" one as well. However, the film has a nice conclusion at the academy awards which makes fun of Hollywood's biggest night in grand fashion. The plot has Frank retired, but he is coaxed out of retirement to break into a prison and find out a sinister plot. The villain this time is Fred Ward and he is good as is his gang. There are some surprises here and there too. I just thought this one was a bit more humorous than two, but not quite on par with the first one. Close, but not quite.

Retirement has not been good for Frank Drebin. His marriage is on the rocks and he feels emasculated as he no longer has the power of the law or the ability to shot bad guys. When he is offered the chance to help out with some undercover work, Frank jumps at the chance – even though Jane storms out. When the info Frank finds points to imprisoned bomb expert Rocco Dillon he agrees to go into the jail and infiltrate his gang in order to find out his plan.

Despite the fact that the second part was a little bit of a dip from part 1, Debin was brought back for a final insult and managed to produce a very enjoyable conclusion to the series. Opening with one of the best moments from all three films (a hilarious expansion of The Untouchable train station scene) the film keeps up a very consistent tone that has plenty of big laughs as well as lots of little things that will keep you chuckling. Its not that the film has no misses (it does) but they are covered by the sheer weight of hits that it includes. The plot is fairly simple but is well done to include a few basic set ups – the prison, the break out and the Oscars; each part is very funny if you're in the mood for it and, hey, even if you're not it is pretty infectious.

The writing is good – it is easy to forget how hard it is to write a good spoof, but recent attempts have shown had easy it is to misjudge the film and just be silly rather than funny. Another big part of the film working is yet another great performance from Leslie Neilsen, who makes it all look so easy! Ward is a great addition to the cast and is much better than the bad guy from the second film – Ward plays it gruff and straight, making it all the funnier. Presley is so-so, with her character kind of shoe-horned into the film to her detriment, but she does have some good moments. Freeman is good value and Smith, well, Smith has a good body and that's about it – but fair play to her for sending herself up like that, it's not like she needed the money after all.

Overall, this is a very enjoyable film as long as you are in the mood. Even if you aren't roaring with laughter you'll still be chuckling along. The material is hardly the height of wit or intelligence and some viewers may find it to be all a bit broad but fans of the genre will love it and get plenty of laughs from the material and the mostly good performances.