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The Naked Gun 2: The Smell of Fear
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Wikipedia article
'The Naked Gun : The Smell of Fear' is a 1991 American crime comedy film. It is the sequel to the 1988 film 'The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!' and the second installment in 'The Naked Gun' film series. The film stars Leslie Nielsen as the comically bumbling Police Lt. Frank Drebin of 'Police Squad!'. Priscilla Presley plays the role of Jane, with O. J. Simpson as Nordberg and George Kennedy as police captain Ed Hocken. The film also features Robert Goulet (who previously made a "special guest star" appearance on 'Police Squad!') as the villainous Quentin Hapsburg and Richard Griffiths as renewable fuel advocate Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer (as well as his evil double, Earl Hacker). Zsa Zsa Gabor, Mel Torm and members of the Chicago Bears have cameo roles.
David Zucker returns from the first entry as director and screenwriter of the film. Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker serve as executive producers for the film and receive writing credit due to their contributions to the first entry of the series and the 'Police Squad!' television series. However, neither contributed to the screenplay for the film.
A third installment in the series, 'Naked Gun : The Final Insult', was released in 1994.
Plot
Frank Drebin is honored at the White House, where President George H. W. Bush announces that he will base his recommendation for the country's energy program on Dr. Albert Meinheimer's advice, which will be revealed during the doctor's speech at the National Press Club dinner the following week. The heads of the coal and oil (fossil fuel) and nuclear industries are distressed by this fact, as Dr. Meinheimer is an advocate for renewable energy. Jane Spencer, now separated from Frank and working for Dr. Meinheimer, is working late at Meinheimer's research institute when she spots a man leaving in a van. A maintenance worker discovers a clock with dynamite attached and takes it to the security guards, who accidentally trigger it.
The next morning, Frank reacquaints himself with Jane as he interviews her about the explosion. He is shown around the institute and meets Jane's boyfriend, Hexagon Oil executive Quentin Hapsburg, of whom he becomes exceedingly jealous. Frank's boss, Ed Hocken, finds him and Jane at a lonely blues bar, where Frank promptly blows a chance to make up with her. Meanwhile, at a meeting of the "energy" industry leaders, Hapsburg reveals that he has kidnapped Dr. Meinheimer and found an exact double for him, Earl Hacker, who will endorse fossil and nuclear fuels at the Press Club Dinner.
Police Squad tracks down the van driver, Hector Savage. Once he discovers the police are onto him, Savage holes up in a house, demanding money and a car. Frank drives a SWAT tank into and through the house, inadvertently allowing Savage to escape, and causes more damage when he loses control of the tank and crashes into the city zoo, allowing the animals to escape. At a party that evening, Frank notices that Dr. Meinheimer does not instantly remember him, despite Jane telling him that Meinheimer had a photographic memory. Frank confronts her with this at her apartment following the party, but is dismissed. Moments later, Savage enters the home and tries to kill Jane. Frank becomes aware of Savage and kills him by sticking a fire hose into his mouth and turning it on full blast. Jane realizes that Frank was right, and the two rekindle their romance.
The next day, Police Squad stakes out Hexagon Oil's headquarters where Dr. Meinheimer is being held. Frank tries to go undercover into the building, but instead is discovered and tied up by Hapsburg's henchmen. Frank and Dr. Meinheimer are eventually freed, and Police Squad proceeds to the Press Club Dinner. Finding their only way in locked, Frank, Ed, Nordberg, and Dr. Meinheimer commandeer a mariachi band's costumes and head inside, where Hacker is eventually intercepted, allowing Meinheimer to give his speech. Hapsburg flees the dinner and takes Jane with him. After a shootout on the roof of the building, Hapsburg informs Frank that he has rigged the building with a small nuclear device which will kill everyone in there except for him and render Dr. Meinheimer's speech useless. After a fight, Frank attempts to learn the bomb's disarming code from Hapsburg, but Ed enters and throws Hapsburg out a window. Hapsburg hits an awning below and is able to come to the sidewalk unscathed, but is immediately killed by an escaped lion from the zoo.
Frank and Jane attempt to disarm the bomb while Ed and Nordberg go back into the ballroom to evacuate it. After several failed attempts, Frank finally manages to disarm the bomb at the last second by tripping over its power cord, unplugging it. Frank is commended by the President, who offers him a special post as head of the Federal Bureau of Police Squad. Frank declines, instead asking Jane to marry him, which she accepts.
Cast
* Leslie Nielsen as Lieutenant Frank Drebin
* Priscilla Presley as Jane Spencer
* George Kennedy as Captain Ed Hocken
* O. J. Simpson as Detective Nordberg
* Robert Goulet as Quentin Hapsburg
* Richard Griffiths as Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer and Earl Hacker
* Jacqueline Brookes as Commissioner Anabell Brumford
* Anthony James as Hector Savage
* Lloyd Bochner as Terence Baggett
* Tim O'Connor as Donald Fenswick
* Peter Mark Richman as Arthur Dunwell
* Ed Williams as Ted Olsen
* John Roarke as President George H. W. Bush
* Margery Ross as First Lady Barbara Bush
* Peter Van Norden as Chief of Staff John Sununu
* Gail Neely as Winnie Mandela
* Colleen Fitzpatrick as Blues singer at Blue Note Club
* Sally Rosenblatt as Mrs. Redmond
* Alexander Folk as Crackhouse cop
* "Weird Al" Yankovic as Police station thug
* Gina Mastrogiacomo as Sex shop worker
Music
As with the first 'Naked Gun' film, the original music for the second installment was composed and orchestrated by veteran soundtrack composer Ira Newborn, including the familiar big-band/blues theme for the 'Naked Gun/Police Squad!' franchise.
Several of the orchestral movements revolve around two other Newborn pieces: "Drebin - Hero!" (used at the top of the pre-credit sequence, from the Paramount-logo animation onward) and the romantic "Thinking of Him" (immediately after the credits).
Seasoned Broadway and film singer/actress Colleen Fitzpatrick plays a saloon singer at a sad-sack restaurant called the Blue Note, to which a depressed Detective Lieutenant Drebin repairs after seeing his former girlfriend Jane Spencer being wooed by the villain Quentin Hapsburg. This role has frequently been attributed to singer Vitamin C who happens to share the same name, but this is incorrect.
Other non-Newborn pieces are heard in this 'Naked Gun' installment. They include the standards "Tangerine" and "Satin Doll" and The Righteous Brothers' recordings of "Unchained Melody" (featured in Jerry Zucker's drama 'Ghost') and "Ebb Tide." Nielsen himself voices the Latin-flavored pop standard "Bsame Mucho" at the Press Club dinner.
Soundtrack
In conjunction with the second 'Naked Gun' film, Varse Sarabande released a soundtrack combining the best Newborn compositions from the first two films. The full scores for 'The Naked Gun' trilogy, along with source music and alternate cues as bonus material, was released in 2014 by La-La-Land Records.
Reception
Box office
'The Naked Gun : The Smell of Fear' knocked 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves' from the top spot at the box office. It grossed $86.9 million in the United States and Canada and did even better internationally, grossing $105 million for a worldwide total of $192 million against a reported budget of $23 million. It was the 10th best performing movie of 1991 in the United States.Critical response
On 'Rotten Tomatoes', the film holds an approval rating of 58% based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "'Naked Gun : The Smell of Fear' delivers a handful of moderate laughs, but overall, its strained antics pale in comparison to its gut-busting predecessor." On 'Metacritic', the film holds a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".Owen Gleiberman of 'Entertainment Weekly' awarded it a B+, but observed that in some ways, it was "the most predictable of the ZAZ films. Even the inconsistent 'Top Secret!' (1984), a demented hybrid of Elvis movies and World War II espionage thrillers, had far wilder passages. Yet I'll take lesser ZAZ over most of the competition any day. Their comedies don't just get you laughing. They put you inside a new, cracked-mirror world a world where no detail is too small for ridicule, and where Leslie Nielsen (bless him) can be a movie star." Kenneth Turan wrote in the 'Los Angeles Times' that one should "consider 'The Naked Gun : The Smell of Fear'. The title is funny enough, so are the credits ("Un Film de David Zucker"), and the key art, showing fearless Lt. Frank Drebin spread-eagled on a pair of speeding bullets, is good for a chuckle as well. But that's where the laughter ends, pal. Because the only thing about 'The Naked Gun' that won't make you laugh is the film itself."
References
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