Police Academy (1984) The Ladd Company/Comedy RT: 96 minutes Rated R (language, comic violence, nudity, sexual content/humor, racial epithets, lots of rude humor) Director: Hugh Wilson Screenplay: Neal Israel, Pat Proft and Hugh Wilson Music: Robert Folk Cinematography: Michael D. Margulies Release date: March 23, 1984 (US) Cast: Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, Bubba Smith, David Graf, George Gaynes, Michael Winslow, Marion Ramsey, Bruce Mahler, Donovan Scott, G.W. Bailey, Andrew Rubin, Brant Van Hoffman, Scott Thomson, Leslie Easterbrook, George R. Robertson, Debralee Scott, Ted Ross, Georgina Spelvin, Doug Lennox, Don Lake. Box Office: $81.1 million (US)/$146 million (World)
Rating: ****
Roger Ebert, a film critic that I admire, gave the comedy Police Academy a zero-stars rating (out of four) indicating that it’s an especially bad movie. He criticized it harshly which I think is unfair. I strongly disagree with his comments; I think it’s hilarious! He compared it to Airplane which is inaccurate. That was a spoof; Police Academy is more of a “misfits vs. establishment” comedy like Stripes to which it bears a strong resemblance, right down to the contentious relationship between smart-ass recruit (Guttenberg, The Man Who Wasn’t There) and tight-ass leader (Bailey, St. Elsewhere).
Nobody expected Police Academy to make as big a splash as it did in early spring ’84. I had a feeling about it though. Still reveling in the joyous memory of the previous December’s D.C. Cab (another “misfits vs. establishment” comedy), I went to see Police Academy at the City Line Theater on a rainy Sunday afternoon (March 25, to be precise) and spent the next 96 minutes laughing my ass off. It was crude, stupid, silly and a complete riot!
The basic premise of Police Academy is simplicity itself. The newly-elected mayor has relaxed standards at the academy due to a shortage of police officers. In other words, they’ll take anybody! That’s where perennial troublemaker Carey Mahoney (Guttenberg) enters the picture. He’s just been arrested for destroying property and receives an ultimatum from family friend Captain Reed (Ross, Arthur). Either he signs up for the police academy or goes to jail. Since Mahoney doesn’t want to go to jail, he opts for the former with the intention of being thrown out on the first day. It won’t be as easy as that because those in charge have decided it would be more fun to make the undesirable cadets quit rather than throw them out. Mahoney almost immediately clashes with Lt. Thaddeus Harris (Bailey), the meanest instructor at the academy who aspires to replace slightly-confused Commandant Eric Lassard (Gaynes, Tootsie) as head of the academy. Along with big-bosomed Sgt. Callahan (Easterbrook, Laverne & Shirley), Harris proceeds to make life miserable for the new recruits, especially Mahoney who he despises with a passion.
The motley group of cadets include the following: human sound effects machine Larvell Jones (comedian Winslow), towering tough guy Moses Hightower (former NFL star Smith), gung-ho gun-crazy Eugene Tackleberry (Graf, Irreconcilable Differences), extremely soft-spoken Laverne Hooks (Ramsey), super-klutz Douglas Fackler (Mahler, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter), rich socialite Karen Thompson (Cattrall, Porky’s), Latino womanizer George Martin (Rubin), non-confrontational Leslie Barbara (Scott, Zorro, The Gay Blade) and Harris’ two ass-kissing flunkies Kyle Blankes (Van Hoffman, Rustler’s Rhapsody) and Chad Copeland (Thomson, Fast Times at Ridgemont High).
Among the signature characteristics of the Police Academy movies are sight gags and plenty of slapstick humor. Police Academy has its fair share of both, the classic scene being the one in which Harris finds himself stuck in a certain orifice of a horse. I also like the bit involving Cmndt. Lassard, Mahoney, a hooker (porn actress Spelvin) and a podium. There’s also a funny bit where Hightower overturns a police car containing Copeland who’s just made a derogatory racist remark towards Hooks. That right there dates Police Academy because you wouldn’t hear such terms in a comedy in this age of political correctness. Copeland uses a term in one scene that I’ve only ever heard used by Archie Bunker. Some have accused Police Academy of being homophobic due to a scene where Mahoney sends Blankes and Copeland to a gay leather bar as a way of keeping them away from the cadets’ beach party. I think it’s one of the movie’s funniest scenes.
Another trademark of the Police Academy movies is the climactic scenes that feature our heroes rushing in to stop some big crime and save the day. In this first movie, a riot breaks out downtown and it’s up to the cadets to bring peace back to the streets. They also have to save Harris after he’s taken hostage by a gun-toting scumbag. Guess which cadet risks his neck to save his most despised commander?
I like how Police Academy is set up. It’s mainly a series of gags and comic scenes. Director Hugh Wilson (WKRP in Cincinnati) makes it work. Police Academy will never pass for fine cinema, but who says it has to? It’s funny and that’s what really counts! Guttenberg is great in the lead and the characters are pretty cool too. I give it a four-star rating because it never fails to make me laugh like crazy. Sorry Roger, I hold you in high regard but must respectfully disagree with your assessment of Police Academy. I think it’s great!
