Surely, You Should Have Played It Serious

Leslie Nielsen died this week.

One thing I always found frustrating about him was that he got too goofy. The reason he works so well in the first movies in the “Airplane!” and “Naked Gun!” franchises (and of course in “Police Squad!”) was that he was a serious actor. He brought his silver-haired gravity to the ridiculousness, and that’s why he’s hilarious in those projects.

But at some point, he seemed to realize, “Hey, I’m getting all these comic roles. I should act more funny!” Compare the steely, stone-faced doctor in “Airplane!” to the wide-eyed double-taking police officer in “The Naked Gun 33-1/3.” (Actually, don’t.)

It doesn’t help that his material kept getting worse and worse. To be honest, I stopped watching the Zucker-Abrahms-Zucker movies (and the even worse imitators) a long time ago. Part of me wondered if that style of comedy—genre parodies with everything-but-the-kitchen-sink gags thrown in—was just dated. But no, I believe the first movies in those series (as well as, to a lesser extent, “Top Secret!”) hold up.

The last time I watched “Airplane!” something dawned on me. The gags, as random as they were, were pulled along by a plot, as much of an afterthought as it was. There was a story—a screw-up’s attempt at redemption, a terrified group of people battling food poisoning and uncertainty—that was strong enough a clothesline for the jokes to hang on. I’m not sure that’s the case anymore, with the “____ Movie” series and the Mike Meyers movies and the like. It’s more a parade of—not even jokes—references. “I recognize that! It’s here for no reason, and there isn’t even an attempt at commentary, but I know what you’re referring to! I shall reward you with laughter!”

When “33-1/3” came out, I was still faithful, even though I found “2-1/2” to be a letdown. Sometime between the release of the movie and the time I saw it, O.J. Simpson, who plays Nordberg in all three movies, was arrested as a murder suspect.

The movie had been out for a while, I think. In any case, there were literally two people in the theatre: me and some stranger. The movie flickered and echoed in this cavernous, empty space, and I’m not sure either of us mustered up much of a laugh the whole time.

One of the subplots was that Nordberg’s wife was pregnant. At the end, she gives birth, but he walks into the wrong hospital room and sees a newborn white baby. He flies into a murderous rage and chases one of his white follow cops down the hall. I think that might even have been the closing image of the movie.

It would have been uncomfortable, even if there were laughs to be had during the hour and a half leading up to it.

In conclusion, RIP Leslie Nielsen