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Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
Derived from the skewed series Police Squad, The Final Insult is the latest sequel to feature the poker-faced Lt. Drebin and his goofy cronies. Right from the start the film is plunged into a melee of farce and satire, courtesy of Lt. Frank Drebin's (Leslie Nielsen) subconscious. Plagued by nightmares of rampant crime and runaway push-chairs, it's fortunate that Frank is about to hand in his gun and badge. This done, he reverts to being an ordinary person, a house-husband in fact, while Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley) works to earn their daily bread. This means, of course, that Frank can't even react to the simplest robbery, though he does get to bake some pretty mean muffins.

Without Frank, Police Squad comes apart at the seams when faced by a threat of any magnitude (since they're even more inept than their former partner). Hence, Ed Hocken (George Kennedy) and Nordberg (O.J. Simpson) drop by on a courtesy call, hoping to tempt Frank back on one final assignment. They'd like him to go undercover and root out some details about a pneumatic nurse called Tanya Peters (Anna Nicole Smith). It's a delicate mission, in more than one way, but Frank gets the goods. Unfortunately the personal cost is high since Jane takes umbrage, broken-hearted that he's returned to the front line, and walks out. She'd rather have him seeing another woman!

Family life in ruins, Frank focuses on his work and volunteers to make the trip to prison. No crime has been committed, it's just that master bomb-maker Rocco (Fred Ward) is inside Stateville Prison and he seems to be planning something big. Rocco is a bit power crazy, and dominated by his mother Muriel (Kathleen Freeman), but Frank manages to gain his trust, in his own inimitable fashion. Now it's only a matter of waiting, saving the lives of millions and winning back the love of Jane.

Put together in the traditional Police Squad style, The Final Insult smoothly plays the elements which have worked so often before. There are the illogical frosted-door signs, the bizarre posters, the confused bystanders and so on. None of this is fresh but it doesn't taste too stale either. With the gags piled on thick and fast it's impossible not to laugh out loud occasionally at the sheer absurdity of it all, so long as the movie isn't approached too cynically. At heart, The Final Insult is a light snack (at a rapid 82 minutes) and nothing more.

Reprising his well-tuned character, Nielsen dead-pans through a Battleship Potemkin start and continues in the same vein. Like Inspector Clouseau, only not so subtle, he wanders through a whirlwind of slapstick, double-takes, sight gags and one-liners, then emerges smelling of roses. He simply has great timing. Most of the principles acquit themselves adequately, with several members of the cast having their own film to spoof (Jane gets Thelma & Louise while Rocco winds up with White Heat). A certain frisson of celebrity excitement is generated by the presence of Simpson, though one point is certain - he can't act (making him the weak link in the comedy chain).

The most enjoyable aspect of The Final Insult is that puns are thrown up from start to finish, credits included. The topical ones have lost their relevance quite quickly but, even so, much of the humour sticks. So long as a willingness to get carried along by the flow is displayed, the viewing experience is generally pleasant and untaxing.

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