Leslie Nielsen ist sehr verdächtig

Since "The Fugitive" is one of my all-time favorites, this takeoff on it was fun and enjoyable for me to watch. Hey, sometimes it's best to laugh at ourselves and the things we like. For much of it, this movie was laugh-out-loud funny.

It helped not only to know "The Fugitive" story well but also "North By Northwest," "Casablanca" "Titantic," and many, many other films, both classic and modern-day. The more familiar you are with movies, the more of these "inside" jokes are going to make you laugh.

Being a movie buff, a lot of these gags connected and made me really have a good time watching this Leslie Nielsen farce. Be warned, parents: this is not a family comedy. There are tons of sexual innuendos, so typical of today's comedies.

A late entry in Leslie Nielsen's career-rebooting series of movie parodies, 1998's "Wrongfully Accused" treads familiar territory. However, the film will likely be catnip to fans of "Airplane," "Naked Gun," and "Police Squad." Written, produced, and directed by Pat Proft, a veteran writer on the "Police Squad" TV series and the "Naked Gun" movie trilogy, the movie is an endless string of hit-or-miss sight gags, bad puns, and slapstick. While showing his age, the 72-year-old Nielsen manages to keep up with the frantic pace. Proft's first and only directorial effort is a take-off on Harrison Ford's "The Fugitive," and Nielsen plays Ryan Harrison, a moniker among numerous obvious references, who is a music virtuoso also known as Lord of the Violin. Nielsen is passingly involved with the wife of Hibbing Goodhue, played by Michael York, and, when York is murdered, Nielsen is convicted of the crime, jailed, and sentenced to death. The set pieces imitate the original film with a train-bus wreck in which Nielsen escapes, a pursuit in the sewers, and a daring jump into a raging river. On the run, Nielsen seeks to prove his innocence by finding a one-armed, one-legged, one-eyed man, all the while pursued by Richard Crenna, a garrulus cop named Lieutenant Fergus Falls.

For movie buffs, the references to old movies are enough to make the film entertaining; from extended scenes that mimic "The Usual Suspects," "Mission Impossible," "Titanic," and "North by Northwest," to passing references to "The Empire Strikes Back," "Field of Dreams," and "Braveheart," to dialog lifted from "Casablanca," Proft's movie is great fun. Viewers are advised to sit through the wacky end credits, which like those of earlier Nielsen spoofs, include a number of genuinely funny attributions. Unfortunately, unlike other Nielsen spoofs, the cast is light on star cameos, and only York and Sandra Bernhardt are well known among the cast. While Melinda McGraw plays Nielsen's sidekick and love interest, she fails to make a strong impression, and the more than 35-year age difference between Nielsen and McGraw is borderline icky. However, the May-December attraction is a small quibble. The audience for "Wrongfully Accused" knows what they paid for, and the film generally delivers. However, those who hated "Airplane" and "Naked Gun" are warned to stay clear.

There has been a murder in town and the violin player superstar is the main suspect.He is wrongfully accused, of course.He gets a death sentence but he manages to escape.So then he is an innicent violin player chased by the cops.All he knows is that the real murderer is a one-armed, one-legged and one-eyed man. Shouldn't be so hard to find.Easier said than done.Wrongfully Accused is a comedy, that has parodies from many other movies and some series.Mostly from The Fugitive.There are also parodies from movies like Braveheart and Titanic.Leslie Nielsen is perfect for the movie.He knows the genre very well.He is a parody man.Great comedian.Great comedy.

I have been a fan of Nielsen's since I first saw Spy Hard when I was still a kid. Leslie Nielsen was perfect to play this role simply because he has the presence of a dramatic actor only making his actions funnier. Nielsen is perhaps one of the funniest comedic actors around, though his movies like this are criticized as though they were supposed to be some Oscar Nomminated hit or something. What those "drama critics" don't seem to understand is that all his comedy movies are PARODIES of dramatic movies. They're not supposed to be taken seriously. Niesen movies like this are just for a few yuks and laughs. I have always loved random comedy movies like this, therefore, I love this movie.

Leslie Nielsen basically stopped acting after making the Naked Gun movies. He starred in spoofs such as Spy Hard, A Space Travesty, Scary Movie 3 and this one, a spoof mainly of 'The Fugitive'.

Numerous other movies come along (such as The Usual Suspects, Braveheart, Titanic, Patriout Games and even Casablanca, it's a feast for anyone who's seen those movies. It all doesn't make much sense of course (as it shouldn't) but it's a fine evening filler I suppose.

Oh well, if you're into the spoofing category or have seen much of the movies being ridiculed in this one, it's definately a one to watch.

6/10.