Airplane!
Nearly 30 years after this filmâs release, itâs amazing how so few comedies in the years since (if any) have been able to match this film in the laughs per minute ratio. Maybe itâs because the filmmakers (as well as the actors) present the story in such a straight-laced way, so that the funny moments literally seem to come out of nowhere, and are so fast, furious, and at times, subtle, that the viewer is reduced to a giggling bowl of jelly by the end. While a handful of its jokes are a product of its time (like casting noted California fiscal conservative Howard Jarvis as the man who is left sitting in a taxi the whole movie with the meter running), much of the humor remains timeless, and pretty ballsy as well, like the little girl who takes her coffee (among other things) black, or the little old lady who refuses a drink but is more than happy to snort some cocaine, or the fact that the pilot is obviously a pedophile with his inappropriate questions to the little boy (âDo you ever hang around the gymnasium?â). Other bits, like Kareem Abdul-Jabbarâs co-pilot breaking character, to the fantastic Saturday Night Fever spoof, to the subtitled black guys talking in eubonics, just never gets old, and can be enjoyed time and time again on rewatches, and still others, like the magazine rack labeled âwhacking materialâ, or the flight controller putting in a load of laundry in the background, can only be picked up by most people on repeat viewings. In the lead as the immortal Ted Striker, Robert Hays is likable and easy to root for, and itâs amazing that he along with co-star Julie Hagerty saw their careers cool off quite a bit in the years since; meanwhile Leslie Nielsen began one of the most incredible reinventions of oneâs self anywhere with his first comedy role as Dr. Rumack; Lloyd Bridges as the substance abuser tower boss gets big laughs as he resorts to his various addictions to deal with the stress; Peter Graves (who initially was offended by the script) maintains an admirable straight face through some of the most outrageous dialogue; Lorna Patterson is indelibly cute as the stewardess who tries to cheer up a little sick girl with a song, and winds up nearly killing her; while Robert Stack nearly steals the show with his no-nonsense air chief (and former mentor of Strikerâs) who attempts to talk him down with the plane; plus there are smaller roles for such names as Jonathan Banks, Barbara âJune Cleaverâ Billingsley (who can speak in eubonics), James Hong, David âJoe Izuzuâ Leisure, Ethel Merman, Kenneth Tobey, and even Jimmie âJ.J.â Walker. Only Stephen Stucker, as the âwackyâ flight controller, is out of sync with the rest of the film, apparently ad-libbing most of his bits and trying oh so hard to steal the movie and failing miserably. That is a tiny concern though, and easily forgiven, as the ZAZ team of writers and directors seem to throw every idea in their twisted imaginations out there, and so what if about 90% of it sticks. Even though this form of film comedy was pretty much invented by Mel Brooks, ZAZ perfected it here, and almost every comedy to come down the pike since has tried to live up to it, with mostly less than stellar results. Overall, a Grand Masterpiece of cinema that will be viewed and enjoyed by generations for hundreds of years to comeâŚ
10/10