Review of Police Academy (1984) by Mark W — 30 Sep 2008

If you've never seen any of the Police Academy movies, know this - the first movie is the only one worth watching! It's a R-rated comedy and it's well aware of what it is and isn't. Other than a few carryover characters, and a some vaguely familiar situations, the situations are all family-friendly PG films and they have nowhere near the charm or humor of this first movie.

This movie has a real anarchic streak running through it and it pays off in so many ways. There are jokes about hookers and gay bars that the sequels wouldn't even touch later on. In fact, this movie might actually be pretty offensive if it weren't so FUNNY! There are true laugh-out-loud moments in this one and I loved every minute of it.

I still re-visit it from time to time and laugh (unlike the sequels which I suffered through the first time and then forgot). This may very well be the ONLY role that Steve Guttenberg ever got right..

..his other comedies were so unfunny but in here he's the class clown, the joker that can't be contained and he plays it with real gusto. Kim Cattrall, in an early role, is sexy and funny. The rest of the cast is rounded out with an inept group of whack-jobs and lunatics and it's fun to watch them wreak havoc on the Academy and on the city at large.

Fun stuff!!!!