"Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult" opens with what is perhaps the most inspiredsequence in the entire series: an outrageous parody of the shoot-out in the Chicago trainstation from Brian De Palma's "The Untouchables" (1987). Those who have seen "TheUntouchables" remember the train station scene as the center piece of the film, a brilliantslow-motion homage to Eisenstein's infamous Odessa Steps sequence in "BattleshipPotemkin" (1921). In "Naked Gun 33 1/3," one baby cart rolling down the steps is replacedwith no less than four, and the Mafia gangsters are joined by a Middle Eastern terrorist, thePresident and the Pope running for their lives, and an army of machine-gun-wieldingdisgruntled postal workers.

And, at the center of it all once again, is Lt. Frank Drebin, played by Leslie Nielsen for thethird time (not counting the ill-fated 1982 TV series "Police Squad!" on which the films arebased). Lt. Drebin is just as we remember him, except in this outing he has retired fromPolice Squad and is settling down in his marriage with long-time girlfriend Jane (PriscillaPresley), who is now a lawyer. This means that Drebin has become a homemaker, and thefilm has fun showing the various disasters he causes at the grocery store and his newfoundoccupation of ironing, folding laundry, cleaning the house, and making cupcakes (in a frillyapron with pink fuzzy slippers, no less).

Of course, Drebin can't be kept in the kitchen forever, and his old friends on the force,Capt. Ed Hocken (George Kennedy) and Nordberg (O.J. Simpson), convince him to comeout of retirement to go undercover to find out what terrorist Rocco Dillon (Fred Ward) isplanning. This sets up a series of undercover gags, the first of which involves Drebin goingto a clinic to find out what Rocco's girlfriend, Tanya (voluptuous Playboy Playmate AnnaNicole Smith) knows, only to find out that he's at a fertility clinic and sperm bank. Theresults are predictably vulgar (it even includes a sheep joke), but still funny.

Drebin then goes undercover in prison, where he convinces Rocco that he is actually a serialkiller named "The Slasher" McGerk. The film climaxes in typical "Naked Gun" fashionwith Drebin trying desperately to foil Rocco's plans in a very public arena (this time, theAcademy Awards). The location allows for a gaggle of celebrity cameos (including OlympiaDukakis, Raquel Welch, and James Earl Jones, who gets the funniest line in the movie), notto mention a hysterical musical number by Pia Zadora that Drebin turns into a disaster(Zadora winds up stuck in a tuba).

While "Naked Gun 33 1/3" has its share of solid laughs, it still feels a bit lacking. By thethird outing, you can sense that the filmmakers are getting a bit desperate. David Zucker,who directed the first two movies, turned the directing reins over to Peter Segal ("NuttyProfessor II") and took a less prominent role as co-writer and co-producer. Segal does agood job of maintaining the manic energy and nonstop assault of gags and puns thatcharacterized the earlier films. His entry in the series is heaviest on the slapstick comedyand movie spoofs (in addition to "The Untouchables," "The Crying Game," "SaturdayNight Fever," "Jurassic Park," and "Thelma & Louise" are all lampooned with varyingdegrees of success).

Yet, the jokes just aren't quite as funny, and the story doesn't have many places to go. Infact, the domestic scenes with Frank and Jane (especially their trip to a marriage counselor)are some of the funniest in the movie simply because they feel fresh. Watching Drebinstumble his way through solving another master-plot crime has its share of enjoyment, butis also has a distinctly been-there-done-that feel that won't go away.

©2000 James Kendrick