Naked Gun 2 1/2, The - The Smell Of Fear Details

Billed on release as the latest film from the brother of the man who directed Ghost (and complete with a wonderful send-up of the pottery scene from that film), this second instalment from the files of Police Squad is a deliriously funny delight. Leslie Nielsen, as the steadfastly stupid Frank Drebin, starts off by wrecking a White House reception, then proceeds to blunder his way through an investigation into a group of corrupt businessmen plotting to stave off radical new changes to the energy industry. Many of the original cast (George Kennedy, Priscilla Presley and the infamous OJ Simpson) return for this sequel, and there's also strong support from villain Robert Goulet, Lloyd Bochner and visiting British actor Richard Griffiths. The jokes come thick and fast and you really need to keep your eyes peeled as some of the sight gags are gone in a flash — the pictures on the wall, the items on the hostess's tray in the blues café, and the newspaper headline proclaiming Elvis to be alive and well (a lovely throwaway that speaks volumes for Priscilla Presley's sense of humour). It's not quite up to the standard set by the now classic first film, but Nielsen's inspired playing still makes this an unmissable treat.

In this deliriously silly sequel to the marvellously tasteless juvenilia of Lieutenant Frank Drebin's first chaotic... read more on Time Out