Liam Neeson is well known for his action films, such as the Taken franchise, and other prominent action movies including “Non-Stop,” “The Commuter,” “Honest Thief,” “Cold Pursuit” and “The Marksman.”
Neeson’s mission is always to save the world, often threatening the enemy from his cellphone, delivering his lines with such punch that anybody at the receiving end is looking for an escape plan.
He is a seriously badass guy, and nobody wants to meet him in a dark alley, or any alley, for that matter. So, I was surprised to see him in the slapstick comedy, “Naked Gun” 2025, delivering one-liners with lethal comedic timing.
Produced by Seth MacFarlane, the creator of “The Family Guy “and directed by Akiva Schaffer, known for his comedy music group, “The Lonely Island,” this movie overachieves, perhaps because its expectations are so low, but audiences don’t seem to mind.
The premise is almost irrelevant, as the whole point of this slapstick comedy is to deliver a sardine-packed can of ridiculous jokes, puns and wacky pranks.
The plot involves Neeson’s Frank Drebin, Jr., the son of Leslie Nielsen’s character from the original films, investigates a mysterious suicide that involves stopping a criminal mastermind named Richard Cane from deploying a devastating weapon.
Cane, a tech billionaire (Danny Huston), plans to corrupt every phone in the world with a noise that causes people to tear one another apart, leaving the world in bits and pieces. As the movie’s villain, Houston gets plenty of jokes, and he is often the perfect complement to Neeson’s absurdity.
Great banter comes from some of Frank’s associates. He is occasionally accompanied by his partner, Ed Hocken Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser), the son of another famous cop. Additionally, Chief Davis (CCH Pounder) quips with Frank before eventually suspending him.
But the best repartee comes in the form of the femme fatale Beth Davenport, a woman investigating her brother’s murder. Pamela Anderson plays Beth, delivering the lines with brevity, irony and pacing. A standout scene is their interchange about a Thanksgiving dinner. Both discuss how they like their turkey done — it’s filled with smoky dialogue and double entendre.
Anderson can easily appear solo and hold her own, but what really makes her acting pop is the excellent chemistry she adds to her co-star Neeson. She brings wit and energy to their dialogue, making each scene fresh and authentic.
Many might wonder where Anderson has been all these years, but it doesn’t matter as she’s just beginning a tremendous second act in her career.
This movie is dumb, which is precisely why it works. People don’t watch slapstick movies because they’re looking for a deep, meaningful conversation afterwards. After the movie, they want to go to Chick-fil-A and get on with their lives.
Slapstick comedies flourished during the 1930s depression. Comedians like Laurel and Hardy and the Three Stooges thrived during this period by providing audiences with much needed escapism and humor in the face of uncertainty in a dwindling economy.
In the 1930s, Americans needed a break from their troubles, just like today. Our economy is weak, the political landscape is divided and we’re suffering from information (or misinformation) overload.
One reason this slapstick comedy shines is that the actors are not playing it like a comedy. The more serious the actors deliver the lines, the funnier it is.
Neeson, like his predecessor, Leslie Nielsen, didn’t start as a comedic actor. In addition to his action movies, Neeson is most known for poignantly portraying Oskar Schindler from “Schindler’s List.”
Before stumbling into “Airplane” (with its most famous line, “Yes, I’m serious, and don’t call me Shirley.”), Nielsen was a serious actor, notable roles include the captain in “The Poseidon Adventure” and a father in the horror film “Prom Night.”
“Naked Gun” (2025) has also accomplished something most comedies have failed to do in the last 20 years, get people back into movie theaters, where they can share laughter with strangers.
Today, most comedies are designed to be enjoyed from the comfort of your own couch. Movie-going has taken a nosedive in the past twenty years, and it’s not because of the pandemic. Streaming TV, franchise fatigue and derivative overload have diminished our enthusiasm for the movie house experience.
If you don’t remember going to the movies, sitting with strangers and sharing laughter, you are not alone. But thanks to “Naked Gun” 2025 hijinks and an exceptional cast, audiences remember what it is like to laugh together.