Airplane!

Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, 1980)

I already admitted on this blog that I am a sucker for a good comedy and that it is probably my favorite of all movie genres. It was the more popular genre at the first moments of the birth of Cinema, look at the success guys like Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel and Hardy and many more had. People are always opened to laugh and disconnect with the diffculties of their lives in a Theater and this is maybe one of the reasons it is still one of the money makers at the Box-office. Just look how every comedy gets to the top of the most grossing films. They are often considered as family films that everyone can enjoy and understand. Pardon the introduction but I though it was interesting to get some ideas out of my head because I don't review lots of comedies here and that's one thing I'll try to correct in 2011.

Airplane! is a success, well in its conception it's cheap and sometimes it looks cheap but the comedy and the gags don't get old. And just the presence of Leslie Nielsen on the screen makes me laugh, so he doesn't have to do much to make me laugh even more. The big story, if there is one, is about a couple that has had some issues and that should work over the fear of flying of the man (an ancient War pilot) and the shame of the woman (a stewardess). The whoel thing is a pretext for crazy jokes in an airplane. Well, except for the rules of in flight behavior that changed drastically since the sad event of September 11 and that make us think that cannot happen as bad as it is, the situations and the gags are extremely hilarious. Maybe it gives to the film a gloss of good old time...

One of the most important things to check when you are watching Airplane! is how in almost every frame there is always something stupid/unexpected happening in the deep focus.

Believe it or not I just discovered Airplane! and it made me think that I should revisit The Naked Gun series and the other films the Zuckers made because they are filled with creative gags and ironic dialogues. Anyone has a comedy I must discover or rediscover?