Freaky Friday: Police Academy

Well, you voted, and since I believe in democracy, here it is for your reading pleasure: Police Academy

Stats:

Year- 1984 (a very good year for films)

Rating- R

Running Time- 96 minutes

There was a golden age of cinema; a time when people didn't worry about offending anyone, when people made movies simply to make money (instead of making statements), a time when we just wanted an escape from the threat of total global annihilation.  I like to call this time the Guttenberg Era.  

This movie contains all the good (and bad) elements of 80's cinema: bad hair, short shorts (on men and women), slapstick, and, of course, Steve Guttenberg. Ol' Stevie made quite of few big name movies in the 80's like: Cocoon, Three Men and a Baby (and the sequel), Diner, and of course it was Guttenberg who launched the Police Academy franchise.  And for you Guttenberg fans, another sequel in the 3 Men and a Baby series has been announced--Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenberg have already signed on for 3 Men and a Bride....but back to Police Academy...

The plot is simple.  Get a lot of screw-ups together, make them run laps, add a sadistic overbearing task master, and see what happens...actually sounds like reality TV.  As in all 80's movies, this rag-tag team of misfits rises to the challenge and proves everyone wrong by becoming exemplary police officers.  

There are some funny gags in this movie (like the Blue Oyster Bar), but I didn't think this movie aged all that well.  We do get to see Kim Cattrall, Bubba Smith, and Michael Winslow (the guy that makes noises with his mouth), and this movie spun off 7 sequels and a TV show that only aired in Canada (it was actually produced in French).

I really liked this movie as a kid, and as an adult I found it sort of funny.  I'm going to give this movie 2 1/2 stars mostly for the sake of nostalgia.  It's not a bad movie, but I will probably wait a while before watching this again.  (although I probably will watch it again....)