Top Secret!




I know. It all sounds like some bad movie.

This is Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker's somewhat obscure follow up to Airplane!. For those who haven't seen either of these movies, they consist of relentlessly corny humor. Expect the unexpected, as any and all kinds of jokes are thrown at you as fast as possible. In this one, Nick Rivers (Val Kilmer, in his first movie) is an American rock and roll star that comes over to East Germany. There he gets mixed up in a silly spy plot. During all this, parodies of everything from WWII spy pictures to Elvis war movies fly by.

The only time movies like this work is when the jokes keep coming. However, there are several dry stretches, especially in the first half. Things do pick up, especially when there is some action, but at times it gets dull. Several songs sung by Kilmer himself come and go. They may be catchy, but they're a little overused and detract the general flow.

The jokes themselves aren't as big as might be expected. Of course there are some really good chuckles, but the pacing on them is a little off at times. Expect a few to get pretty raunchy, but some of them are just plain priceless.

Okay, okay. These kinds of movies are obviously pretty juvenile, but this one pushes the limits. The plot may be a little too hammy and enough of the jokes don't fly. While this sounds dumb even as I write it, you'll have to take my word for it. It's a little too silly for its own good, if that can be believed.

There isn't much acting required in movies like this. It merely involves a general sense of timing, which all of the actors hit pretty well. Watch for cameos from Omar Sharif and Peter Cushing.

Despite its flaws, this flick is worth its rental price for some good jokes and an hour and a half of mindless humor.



-The Gnome