Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (DVD)
The further misadventures of bumbling Los Angeles police Lieutenant Fran k Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) are chronicled in this third installment in th e popular Naked Gun comedy series. This by-the-numbers entry begins with Drebin as a happily retired house-husband called back into action when an evil terrorist organization threatens Los Angeles. As in the other Na ked Gun films, this plot is merely an excuse for an unhinged, rapid-fire succession of gags, ranging from satirical lampoons of cop movies to br oad slapstick, all played with a perfectly straight face. Nielsen provid es his familiar combination of complete witlessness and oblivious dignit y as Drebin, and the film attempts to match the earlier Naked Gun films and the Police Squad! television series that inspired them in the nu mber of jokes. However, the film proved less successful than its predece ssors, as some viewers found that the freewheeling comic style of the ea rlier films had solidified into its own formula, now mildly entertaining but disappointingly predictable.
