Movie: The Naked Gun

Interviews with the writers of The Naked Gun provide the perfect insight into the movie.

According to Akiva Schaffer, who also directed the movie, he and his co-writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand studied all the spoof comedies that they had loved over the years including the Mel Brooks movies and Austin Powers.

“And the first thing we wanted to figure out was, what makes the spoof genre really work,” Schaffer explains.

“But what Dan and Doug and I tried to figure out, beyond the comedy of it, was how they structured the story of it to keep you engaged enough that you can go, ‘Oh, the story doesn’t matter.’ Because the moment the story falters or isn’t keeping you engaged or is confusing, then you can’t enjoy the jokes. So, we put a lot of effort into making sure the story and characters were working at a pace that would allow you to ignore them and just have fun.”

Given the many laughs in a full cinema for a preview screening, that’s exactly what the audience was doing.

The storyline, such as it is, tells of the efforts of police officer Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) to bring down electric car billionaire Richard Cane (Danny Huston)  who wants to start the world over again.

Frank Jr. is the son of legendary police officer Frank Drebin (the chief character in the three previous Naked Gun movies: the 1988 released The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!; the 1991 The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear; and the 1994 Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult). 

Frank Jr. is even more of a cop on the edge than his dad, flouting the rules to catch the bad guys.  Alongside partner Ed Hocken Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser), Frank is one of the top cops in Police Squad, a special unit of the LAPD.

After his efforts to foil a bank robbery when only an item labelled “P.L.O.T. Device’ is stolen, Frank’s boss Chief Davis (CCH Pounder) banishes him to traffic duties.

Believing a car crash he is sent to investigate is a suicide, Frank changes his mind after a visit from the victim’s sister Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson).  Eventually Frank realises Davenport’s death is related to the bank robbery. He then discovers a plot by Cane  to make everyone angry and start attacking each other.

Even with a script which includes numerous jokes, wordplays, slapstick moments and pop culture references, it’s unlikely The Naked Gun would be as funny without the work of Neeson.

Renowned for his roles as a tough guy, Neeson never once waivers in staying in character as a serious `bend the rules cop’ despite the many crazy lines he delivers and ridiculous situations he finds himself in.

He’s ably support by Anderson, who is also given the chance to showcase her comic acumen as his femme fatale right-hand love interest.

The Naked Gun is a worthy homage to its zany predecessors  so if you are in the mood for around 85 minutes of silliness and a good laugh then there’s a pretty good chance it will hit the spot.

The Naked Gun opens in cinemas around Australia on Thursday August 21.