Le Détonateur

You do not go to see a Nielsen movie expecting anything else but a good laugh. You know that you will see a parody, based on one film, and a lot of references to other famous movies. The humor itself may get what they call rather low, but occasionally you will have a good laugh, and even some gags to remember. No social comments, no pretentions. This is exactly what this film is - an average level parody, with one memorable scene, and a few good other. Go in the right mood, do not expect too much, and you may enjoy it. 6/10 on my personal scale.

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.

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.

Leslie Nielsen is truly the grandmaster of slapstick comedies. In the new film "Wrongfully Accused," Nielsen once more proves that he is capable of saving a bad spoof from being bad. In it, he releases his natural talent of comic genius into his character similar to the one from the magnificent movie "The Fugitive"(Harrison Ford) and, of course, makes us laugh up a storm.

Leslie Nielsen is surprisingly energetic in this film, more than usual. I mean, it's not like him to do some of the things he does in this production. Then again, this is not your typical Nielsen movie in any means. The plot is awfully serious for a slapstick and the characters are too complicated. In a drama movie these things are all signs of skill, but for a movie that just wants to have fun, these things are flaws. Nielsen saves the production by doing what he can with the script.

Another problem of the film is that it virtually strained for laughs, to the point of making the audience think before they laugh. For example, the accused murder walks into a town labeled "The Town That Has More Police Than Anywhere in the Whole Wide World."

There are some quickie jokes that do work, for instance: In a hospital, the intercom speaker says "Dr. Kavorkian to Mr. Simson's room." Or how about when Ryan looks over Lake's photo album under the family tree, the father has two branches, her dad and Bill Clinton. The funniest: When Harrison makes the jump from the dam, from "Fugitive" you here the title song from "Baywatch" and see a group of attractive young lifeguards race to site. The US marshals shoot machine guns at the criminals' feet making them do an Irish dance.

"Wrongfully Accused" is the summer's second spoof movie. First along came the lame "Mafia," which didn't work because there were no main characters. To have Leslie Nielsen on your team when you're making a spoof, that's an almost certain success even if the film on its own is bad, like this movie. In other words, if this movie was absent of him and was still released in theaters it should have been called "Wrongfully Released."

Leslie Nielsen returns with another hilarious spoof, this time starring as violinist Ryan Harrison, who is framed for murdering Hibbing Goodhue. He needs to find a mysterious one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged man to get to the truth of the crime, all the while trying to hide from the pursuing authorities.

As with any Nielson spoofs, there are non-stop gags from start to finish that will have you horse-laughing. Slapstick humor is abundance here, but did get a little old in a plot where the momentum didn't flow as quick as Nielsen's earlier spoof movies like the Naked Gun films. However, the slapstick humor is done tastefully in a way that is doesn't get borderline annoying (i.e., forced comedy).

The characters are calm and serious as always in their demeanor, especially Nielson, spoofing his "The Fugitive" character well. Stars Wars, Titanic, Back to the Future and Anaconda are among the many movies hilariously spoofed - all giving us another entertaining and laughable comedy.

Grade B-