“There’s no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you’ll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?”
Parody is my least favorite type of film. Nearly devoid of plot, the gags are often broad slapstick, body function humor and lazy riffs on pop culture. You’ll find some of that in Airplane!. Heck, my favorite scene is an extended riff on Saturday Night Fever. However, this is not just the greatest parody film ever made, it’s respectable enough to transcend the genre. A densely layered farce that only uses its core parody theme as a springboard for a wide variety of jokes. The wildest ideas delivered with the straightest of faces.
Most films would be satisfied with two soul brothers talking in subtitled jive, but Airplane! adds Barbara Billingsley chewing the two gentlemen out. (“Chump don’t want no help, chump don’t get no help.”) Why settle for Llyod Bridges when you can also bring in Robert Stack. The two leads – Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty – are weak compared to the rest of the cast. They’re too aware of their square roles, no match for a self-serious actor like Peter Graves or Leslie Nielsen. Nielsen was a master of this kind of acting, and even though everyone gets their share of laughs, Nielsen trumps them all and steals the film… though Otto the Autopilot comes pretty close.
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