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Laramie Movie Scope:
National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon

Silly satire falls flat

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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February 8, 1993 -- You've seen it all before, in ``Airplane'' and the Naked Gun films, another silly satire of a popular film genre. This time its a satire of the Lethal Weapon films, National Lampoon's ``Loaded Weapon.'

Unfortunately, this film isn't as good as either of the Naked Gun films or National Lampoon's ``Vacation,'' or ``Animal House.'' It does have some funny moments, but they are scarce. Most of the sight gags and one-liners fall as flat as Zoe Baird's nomination for Attorney General. The movie has a lot more smiles than laughs and not a few groans. Most of the jokes are just plain stupid.

Emilio Estevez tries, but can't muster emotions which come anywhere near the energy level produced by Mel Gibson in the Lethal Weapon films. Samuel Jackson is slightly better in his role as the Danny Glover-like character.

John Lovitz is not bad as the slovenly money launderer based on the Joe Pesci character and William Shatner of ``Star Trek'' fame is fairly funny as the wacky ex-military officer drug dealer. Swimsuit model Kathy Ireland (``Necessary Roughness'') tries mightily to overcome tedious material.

James Doohan, another Star Trek character, has an amusing cameo, and there are also cameos by Whoopi Goldberg, Bruce Willis and Dr. Joyce Brothers.

The trouble is, ``Loaded Weapon'' not only falls short of the Naked Gun films, it isn't even as funny as the ``Lethal Weapon'' films. While the ``Lethal Weapon'' films were primarily action films, they were not entirely serious and had quite a lot of humor in them. There are plenty of films in Hollywood that would be a lot easier to satirize.

In addition to poking fun at the Lethal Weapon films, the movie also satirizes ``Silence of the Lambs'' and ``Basic Instinct,'' but those gags don't work very well either. Where's Leslie Nielsen when you need him? This film rates a D.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)