When The Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult came out in March 1994, no one knew how different it would feel just months later. O.J. Simpson's murder trial in 1995 turned his role as Detective Nordberg from light comedy into something awkward to watch. But if you set aside the real-life drama, is the third movie really the weakest of the series? Unlike the first two films, which were directed by David Zucker, this entry had him step back into a producer role. Still, Leslie Nielsen once again brought Frank Drebin to life in what would ultimately be his final time playing the character before his passing in 2010. From a prison undercover job to a chaotic Oscar-night climax, the real question is: does it still deliver the laughs?
The Story
The movie starts with the most amazing dream sequence I've ever seen. Frank Drebin is having this nightmare where he's at a train station, and it's like watching an action movie but everything goes hilariously wrong. There are baby carriages rolling down stairs, people slipping and sliding everywhere, and Frank is trying to be a hero but just makes everything worse. It's actually making fun of a famous scene from a movie called "The Untouchables" but it's so much funnier because everything is completely ridiculous.
When Frank wakes up, we learn that he's retired from being a police officer and is now just a regular househusband. He stays home all day while his wife Jane goes to work. But Frank is really unhappy because he misses the excitement of police work. He and Jane are having marriage problems and even go to counseling sessions where Frank admits he feels useless at home.
One day, Frank's old police buddies Ed Hocken and Nordberg (the guy who always gets hurt in these movies) come to visit him. They need his help with a super important case. There's this dangerous criminal named Rocco Dillon who's in prison, but the police found out that terrorists hired him to blow something up in America. The problem is they don't know what or when.
Frank remembers that Rocco has a girlfriend named Tanya Peters who works at a medical clinic. So he agrees to help by going to the clinic to find out more about her. When Frank gets there, he writes down Tanya's address on a handkerchief, but then he accidentally loses it somewhere in his house.
When Jane comes home and finds Frank looking tired and suspicious, she thinks he's been doing police work again (which he promised not to do). Frank panics and lies to her, saying he's having an affair with another woman instead! But Jane doesn't believe him because she knows Frank too well. She gets so angry that she moves out of their house.
Now Frank has nothing left to lose, so he volunteers for the most dangerous part of the mission - going undercover in prison to become friends with Rocco and find out his evil plan. Frank pretends to be a tough criminal called "Nick The Slasher McGurk" and gets put in the same jail cell as Rocco.
The prison scenes are absolutely hilarious! Frank tries to act tough and scary, but he's just not good at it. He keeps saying things like "Kill Whitey!" while banging a metal cup on the prison bars, trying to sound like a real criminal. Eventually, Frank wins Rocco's trust by helping him with an escape plan and even starting a prison riot to create a distraction.
Frank and Rocco escape through a secret tunnel they dug under their cell. Outside the prison, Rocco's mom Muriel picks them up in a car. Muriel is this scary old lady who's just as criminal as her son. They take Frank to their hideout, but Frank is having trouble getting them to tell him about their bombing plan because they don't completely trust him yet.
Meanwhile, Jane is on a road trip with her friend Louise, trying to get over her fight with Frank. But then Jane finds the handkerchief with Tanya's address on it in Frank's stuff. She thinks this proves Frank really was having an affair, so she decides to drive all the way across the country to confront this other woman.
When Jane shows up at the address, Frank answers the door and almost has a heart attack! He has to think really fast to explain why Jane is there without blowing his cover. He tells Rocco and Muriel that Jane is just some random stranger, but that they should keep her as a hostage to make sure she doesn't cause trouble.
Finally, Rocco trusts Frank enough to tell him the plan. Rocco is going to blow up the Oscars ceremony by hiding a bomb inside the envelope that contains the winner for Best Picture! It's such a crazy plan that it might actually work.
The Oscars ceremony is the most insane part of the whole movie. Frank manages to trap Muriel in their car outside the theater, then he and Jane sneak inside to try to find and stop the bomb. Frank causes his usual chaos during the show - he accidentally walks out on stage during the ceremony, knocks over equipment, and generally makes a mess of everything while pretending it's all part of the show.
Backstage, Frank runs into Tanya, and she tries to flirt with him to distract him from stopping the bombing. But then and this is really unexpected - Tanya reveals that she's actually a man! Frank gets completely grossed out and runs away as fast as he can.
The climax happens when Frank bursts onto the main stage right as they're about to announce the Best Picture winner. He tries to grab the envelope before it can explode, but he ends up in this huge fight with Rocco right there in front of all the famous movie stars and millions of people watching on TV.
During the fight, Frank accidentally drops a big electronic sign that falls and crushes Muriel (which is pretty dark for a comedy, but it happens so fast you barely notice). Rocco gets really angry that his mom is dead and decides he's going to set off the bomb anyway, even if it kills him too.
But Frank is too quick for him. He manages to launch Rocco and the bomb up into the ceiling above the stage using some kind of cable system. Then Frank grabs Rocco with a wire and flings him right through the roof of the building! Rocco goes flying through the air and crashes into a helicopter that was flying overhead (the helicopter belonged to Pahpshmir, the terrorist who hired Rocco in the first place). The bomb explodes in the air, killing both Rocco and Pahpshmir, but everyone inside the theater is safe.
Frank and Jane hug and kiss while everyone in the audience cheers and applauds. They declare their love for each other and their marriage is saved.
The movie ends nine months later with Frank and Nordberg rushing into a hospital because Jane is having a baby. But in typical Frank Drebin fashion, they run into the wrong room first, and Frank sees a baby that doesn't look like him at all. He starts chasing Nordberg around the hospital thinking something went wrong. Then Ed comes out of a different room with Jane, who's holding their real baby, and everything is happy.
The Good Stuff:
Leslie Nielsen is absolutely perfect as Frank Drebin. He says everything with this completely serious face, even when he's saying the most ridiculous things imaginable. Like when he's in prison trying to act tough, or when he's accidentally ruining the Oscars ceremony, he never breaks character. He always acts like everything makes perfect sense, which makes it even funnier.
The jokes come at you so fast that you barely have time to process one before the next one hits. There are visual gags (things that are funny to look at), word play jokes, slapstick comedy (people falling down and getting hurt in funny ways), and lots of references to other movies that many would recognize.
I loved the opening dream sequence that makes fun of "The Untouchables." Even if you haven't seen that movie, it's still hilarious because everything that could go wrong does go wrong in the most ridiculous ways possible.
The Oscars sequence is probably the best part of the whole movie. Watching Frank accidentally destroy one of the most important nights in Hollywood while trying to save everyone is comedy gold. All the real celebrities playing themselves and just going along with the chaos makes it even better.
George Kennedy as Captain Ed is really funny, and O.J. Simpson as Nordberg has some great moments too (though it's weird watching him now knowing what happened to him in real life just a few months after this movie came out).
The Bad Stuff:
Here's the thing - a lot of people say this is the weakest of the three Naked Gun movies, and I can kind of see why. Some of the jokes feel like they're trying too hard, and not all of them land as well as they should.
The middle part of the movie, especially when Frank is in prison, sometimes feels a bit slow compared to the crazy energy of the beginning and end. And some of the humor feels a bit dated now - there are jokes that might have been funny in 1994 but feel a bit awkward today.
Anna Nicole Smith plays Tanya, and while she's definitely memorable in the role, her acting is pretty stiff. The big twist about her character feels more shocking than actually funny.
The plot is pretty simple and predictable. You always know Frank is going to save the day, so there's not much suspense. But then again, that's not really the point of this kind of movie.
The Deeper Stuff:
What I found interesting is how the movie is really about Frank trying to figure out who he is when he's not being a cop. He's completely lost as a househusband and doesn't know how to be happy in normal life. The only time he feels like himself is when he's solving crimes and catching bad guys, even if he does it in the most ridiculous way possible.
The relationship between Frank and Jane is actually kind of sweet underneath all the silliness. They clearly love each other, but they're having trouble communicating and figuring out what they both want from life.
Final Thoughts:
Is it the best comedy ever made? No. Is it even the best Naked Gun movie? Probably not. But is it a fun way to spend an hour and 22 minutes when you want to turn your brain off and just giggle at silly jokes? Absolutely!
The movie works best when you don't think too hard about it. Just let yourself enjoy the absurdity and the rapid-fire jokes. Leslie Nielsen was a master at this kind of comedy, and even though this wasn't his absolute best work, he's still really entertaining to watch.
If you like movies where people slip on banana peels, walk into glass doors, and accidentally cause massive destruction while trying to help, then you'll probably enjoy this.
I'd recommend watching the first two Naked Gun movies before this one, just so you can see the characters develop and understand why people think this one isn't quite as good. But on its own, it's still a pretty fun comedy that delivers exactly what it promises - lots of laughs and zero brain power required.
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