Welcome to Alternative to What: a weekly column that tries to find a great alternative to driving to the multiplexes. Based on releases of that week, the selections will either be thematically related or feature recurring cast and crew. The goal is to help you better understand the diversity of cinema and hopefully find you some favorites while saving a few bucks. At worse, this column will save you money. Expect each installment to come out on Fridays, unless specified.
THIS WEEK:
The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991)
- Alternative To -
22 Jump Street (2014)
For many, the consistent marketing tools hailing 22 Jump Street as the "Funniest Sequel Ever Made" may make some think that this is fact. While humor is a subjective medium, the idea of the comedy/action sequel isn't nearly as common as many would think. There have been more cop comedies (Police Academy) than comedy/action films. In a sense, the directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller are using this opportunity to update the genre by pointing out the elaborate issues of sequels and going for the bigger, gut-busting joke. Many claim that it is essentially a remake of the first one. You wouldn't be wrong, but is it the funniest sequel of all time?
I don't know that my recommendation this week answers that question, but David Zucker's The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear is the perfect antidote in a way that almost feels plagiarized. Consider the following: The Naked Gun was based off of a short lived TV series called Police Squad! and followed the exploits of the moniker-changing Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen). When rebooted as a film, it became a sensation from the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker (or ZAZ) directing team that gave us the iconic Airplane!. While the choice to make meta commentary wasn't popular at the time, it did something envious. Much like 21 Jump Street with its reboot commentary, The Naked Gun made one of the ultimate slapstick parodies of film noir out there.
While some could debate that any proceeding films in The Naked Gun franchise lacked the charm, it is interesting to revisit and even compare The Naked Gun 2 1/2 in light of 22 Jump Street. Both feature bumbling cops coming to terms with the fact that they're making sequels in grandiose situations with higher visual gags and a sense of familiarity. In the sequel, Frank Drebin is in charge of stopping an evil ring that wants to kidnap scientist Dr. Meinheimer (Richard Griffiths) and create something diabolical. Along with performances by Robert Goulet, O.J. Simpson, George Kennedy, and Priscilla Presley, it is a star studded comedy full of gags galore. The fact that the ending is very simple doesn't ruin anything before hand.
The film's success comes largely thanks to Nielsen's performance. While having started out as a serious actor, his rise to fame came later in life when he teamed up with ZAZ and became one of the most iconic straight men in comedy. While it produced a lot of highs (Airplane!, The Naked Gun films), it also gave us some lows (2001: A Space Travesty, An American Carol). Nonetheless, Nielsen was game for any level of self-deprecating humor and presenting it with a stern grin and a notorious fart machine. He is the type of comic that is funny because he doesn't seem to find himself funny. This is evident in a scene featuring a conversation between Drebin and Quentin Hapsberg (Goulet) that quickly turns to Drebin being bitten by aquarium creatures. The delivery is so straight forward that while it plays like subpar material on page, it has some life thanks the normality of the absurd humor's delivery.
Conceptually, the film still holds weight and provides excellent reminders of not only what made Nielsen and Griffiths so entertaining, but a time when Simpson had potential to be a comedic star. Compared to his co-stars, he may have been amateurish, but considering that it has become iconic to have football stars in comedies (see: Bubba Smith in Police Academy, Alex Karras in Blazing Saddles), he was one of the best. He was the butt of most jokes, but in a universe where car chases feature student drivers and getting off of a yacht is rather complicated, he was a perfect fit. The Naked Gun reflects a comedy structure that has unfortunately not dated so well. Even director Jim Abrahams didn't have so much luck after Hot Shots.
The issue is that broad humor has trouble of being fresh once audiences become aware of it. While Nielsen made a 20+ career out of this, few have managed to. There hasn't really been a successful comedy to rely heavily on pratfalls in years. Maybe it is a reflection of the times or that nobody has the physicality to pull it off. Maybe Melissa McCarthy can with Tammy, though hopes aren't high. Even if The Naked Gun 2 1/2 is in some ways less successful than the first, it still has plenty of moments that work. It is more absurd, wild, and crude. Just like 22 Jump Street wants to be. The only question is if the film will hold as much reverence as The Naked Gun still does after all of these years.
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