
Film reviews: Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson head up the newest Naked Gun romp
Liam Neeson stars as Detective Frank Drebin, the son of the original one-man-disaster Frank Drebin (who was played by Leslie Nielsen), and the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree: when Frank Jnr breaks up a bank robbery with rather too much enthusiasm, he finds himself busted down to traffic cop and held responsible for the likely dissolution of Police Squad.
But when Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson) beseeches Frank to investigate what she believes to be the murder of her brother Simon, Frank quickly discovers a link between Beth's tragedy, the bank robbery, and tech genius Richard Cane (Danny Huston), the CEO of Eden Tech who is plotting a diabolical scheme to reduce the human race to rage-fuelled animals with a Primordial Law of Toughness (i.e., P.L.O.T.) device.
Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson arriving for the UK premiere of The Naked Gun at Cineworld Leicester Square, central London. Picture date: Tuesday July 22, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Ian West/PA Wire
If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and writer-director Akiva Schaffer doesn't try to meddle with the formula: The Naked Gun isn't so much a movie as it is a series of brief comedy sketches featuring slapstick, visual gags, overly literal wordplay and pratfalls, with the occasional nod to the original movies to keep the trainspotters happy.
The craggy-featured Liam Neeson is perfectly cast as the deadpan Frank, Danny Huston oozes villainy through every pore, and the Pamela Anderson renaissance continues apace with her delicately winsome take on the damsel in distress.
The story delights in spoofing the conventions of hardboiled noir, and particularly when it comes to Neeson's gravelly voiceover, but if there's a complaint (there's always a complaint), it's that the script doesn't quite match the quality of the comic performances, delivering giggles and chuckles rather than laugh-out-loud moments.
That said, it's a rare blast of uncomplicated fun, with Neeson having a whale of a time parodying his tough guy persona.
Floria (Leonie Benesch) a dedicated nurse, tirelessly serves in an understaffed hospital ward in Late Shift.
Late Shift
★★★★☆
Cinematic release
Set in a Swiss hospital, Late Shift (12A) opens with nurse Floria Lind (Leonie Benesch) arriving at work to discover that her ward is short-staffed and that she, Bea (Sonja Riesen) and student nurse Amelie (Selma Jamal Aldin) are expected to manage an almost full ward.
So begins a stress-inducing paean to the virtually impossible task of modern nursing: we follow Floria on her rounds as she caters to patients in varying states of health – some simply waiting for test results, others waiting to die – in a masterclass in multi-tasking.
Effortlessly competent, always upbeat and smiling (no matter the personal cost), Floria juggles a host of roles, which include dispensing a dizzying variety of drugs, with a robotic-like efficiency that masks a bedrock of kindness.
It's an utterly absorbing emotional rollercoaster, with potential disaster lurking around every corner, awaiting a single mistake from Floria – given a beautifully understated reading by Leonie Benesch – and her overworked colleagues.
Heidi: Rescue of the Lynx
Heidi: Rescue of the Lynx
★★★☆☆
Cinematic release
Heidi: The Rescue of the Lynx (G) opens in an idyllic world of snowy peaks, flower-dotted meadows, St. Bernards and alpenhorns, where the mischievous, fun-loving Heidi (voiced by Lilly Graffam) lives with her gruff but kindly Grandfather (Tom Zahner).
The arrival of Mr Schnaittinger (Michael McCown), a captain of industry who has plans to drag their village into the modern age with a new sawmill, coincides with Heidi rescuing a lynx kitten that has become separated from its mother. Can the two events be connected? An animation aimed at the very young, this is a colourful, sprightly affair set against a gorgeous backdrop.
The message is an admirable plea for conservation – the despoliation caused by Schnaittinger's other sawmill on the far side of the mountain has driven the mother lynx to prey on the village's livestock – and younger viewers will likely thrill to Heidi's irreverent sense of fun and her heartfelt love of the natural world.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Times
21 hours ago
- Irish Times
Late Shift review: A nursing meltdown opens us up to unseen and underappreciated lives
Late Shift Director : Petra Volpe Cert : 12A Starring : Leonie Benesch, Sonja Riesen, Urs Bihler, Margherita Schoch, Jürg Plüss, Urbain Guiguemdé Running Time : 1 hr 31 mins One can imagine screening this wrenching Swiss film in a double bill with Laura Carreira's recent On Falling . Two studies of a woman at work. Two protagonists at the end of their tether. Two indictments of contemporary malaise. Yet the jobs and the pressures within them could hardly be more different. In Carreira's film, a low-paid warehouse worker trundles down aisles gathering the useless items purchased by online shoppers. In Late Shift, Leonie Benesch plays Floria, a surgical nurse doing vital midnight duty in a hospital strained by understaffing. 'It's just two of us today,' she says repeatedly to aggrieved patients. [ On Falling review: This superb debut about a lonely warehouse picker is an astonishing fable of hidden miseries Opens in new window ] Night Shift and On Falling both profit from rigorous research into the respective workplaces. Benesch, so good in last year's The Teachers' Lounge , prepared with an internship in a Swiss hospital, and only a professional would question the confidence she brings to injections, dressings and the mopping up of unpleasant bodily fluids. The hospital interior gleams like something from impossible science fiction. The endless high-tech equipment looks to have been pulled straight from its packaging. All this feels like a rebuke to the staff who, even if so diligent as Floria, find tempers fraying at endless unsolvable problems. Our protagonist can't get a doctor to deliver bad news to a fretful older patient. She must bark at a patient smoking next to her oxygen tank. All this to a wavering score – sometimes ambient, sometimes ratcheting – from Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch. READ MORE Night Shift does not go for full-on social realism. One wealthy patient comes across as something of a cliche. The details of Floria's eventual meltdown would be more at home in a medical soap than in a film that, elsewhere, strives for rigorous representation of working practices. But Benesch carries us compellingly through those narrative convulsions to an ending that makes an epic of the everyday. As was the case with On Falling, the film opens us up to unseen and underappreciated lives. [ Late Shift star Leonie Benesch: 'The biggest shock was realising how broken health systems are globally' Opens in new window ] A closing note on the nursing crisis in Switzerland points out an unspoken subtext. That country has one of the most advanced healthcare services in Europe. More than a few hospital professionals from other nations may look at Floria's situation with some envy. Late Shift is in cinemas from Friday, August 1st


Extra.ie
a day ago
- Extra.ie
WATCH: Liam Neeson recalls brilliant Robin Williams story as he discusses favourite comedies
Liam Neeson has told a heartwarming story about Robin Williams when discussing his favourite comedy films. The Co Antrim man takes on the role of Frank Drebin Junior in the latest Naked Gun film, which opens this Friday (August 1), alongside leading lady (and rumoured new partner!) Pamela Anderson. The pair were asked to discuss their four favourite funny films for review app Letterboxd, when Liam mentioned that the Robin Williams classic Mrs Doubtfire is a favourite of his — with him recalling a brilliant story of himself and Robin, as well as a number of others, in a taxi before the comedic legend's death. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Letterboxd (@letterboxd) 'I once shared a taxi with Robin and a few other actors,' Liam explained. 'And he started rapping on some politician. And I remember thinking 'this is maybe what Shakespeare would have been like.' 'Just this incredible stuff just pouring out of his brain and his mouth. He was a genius.' Robin tragically passed away in 2014 after he took his own life following a diagnosis of dementia with lewy bodies (DLB), which caused severe depression. Liam Neeson has told a heartwarming story about Robin Williams when discussing his favourite comedy films. Pic:Liam is taking on the legacy role of Frank Drebin Junior in the fourth film of the classic comedy series, which saw Leslie Nielsen play Detective Frank Drebin alongside OJ Simpson as Detective Nordberg. Leslie passed away back in 2010, while OJ, whose career took a very sharp turn after the Naked Gun, passed away last year. Of course, the big story coming out of the set is that Liam and his leading lady in Pamela Anderson are an apparent couple — with People magazine saying that the stars are enjoying a 'budding romance in the early stages.' The pair sparked speculation about their relationship throughout the press tour for The Naked Gun reboot with fans pre-emptively deciding that they must be more than just good friends. Liam stars as Frank Drebin Junior in the newest Naked Gun film, which releases on Friday. Pic: Paramout Pictures However, neither of the actors have indicated that they are romantically involved with one another but People's source insists that they are currently 'enjoying each other's company'. Liam and Pamela have been full of compliments for each other on the press tour and so far have done well to brush off the series of questions from interviewers about their relationship status. The Naked Gun opens in Irish cinemas on Friday, August 1.

The Journal
a day ago
- The Journal
‘Roll on the floor hilarious': Liam Neeson a ‘delight' as critics rave over new Naked Gun film
CRITICS HAVE BEEN full of praise for the new Naked Gun movie starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, with one calling it 'fall-out-of-your-seat-and-roll-on-the-floor hilarious'. The Naked Gun reboot will be released in Irish cinemas this Friday and it's garnered near universal-acclaim among reviewers. It's the fourth film in the Naked Gun franchise and sees Neeson cast as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., who must succeed in his father's footsteps to prevent the closure of Police Squad. The movie is produced by Seth MacFarlane, the producer of Family Guy. Paramount Pictures / YouTube New York Magazine describes the film as 'fall-out-of-your-seat-and-roll-on-the-floor hilarious' and adds: 'See it with the biggest audience you can find. It might just heal you. It might just heal the world.' It's a sentiment shared by the Daily Telegraph, which likewise urges people to see it with an audience in its four star review: 'Experience the rare and wonderful pleasure of a crowd scrambling to keep up with one of the stupidest films it's ever seen.' Variety magazine meanwhile said the film 'practically had audiences wetting their pants' and the San Francisco Chronicle remarked that 'Neeson is a delight and seems to be having as much fun as the audience'. Elsewhere, entertainment news site TheWrap said that one thing is for sure and it's that the new Naked Gun is funny: 'It's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very funny. Very.' In a four star review, The Guardian said that Neeson 'deadpans impeccably in outrageously amusing' film. Advertisement Liam Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. in The Naked Gun Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Consequence praises the film as 'an almost non-stop onslaught of silly and random moments' and The Daily Beast describes it as 'a big, brash, laugh-out-loud crime spoof led by a great Liam Neeson performance'. And while The Hollywood Reporter felt that the movie 'kind of stalls midway', it adds that there are 'enough laugh-out-loud moments to keep nostalgic fans of the earlier films happy'. Meanwhile, there have been rumours that Neeson and Anderson are in a relationship after co-starring in the film. Pamela Anderson, left, and Liam Neeson attend the premiere of The Naked Gun in New York. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo The pair were asked about this during an appearance on NBC's Today show yesterday . 'What's the deal here?' asked host Craig Melvin. 'You're both single right now. There's clearly chemistry on display throughout this film. Are you two an item?' Neeson replied that he and Anderson met on set and 'discovered we had a lovely, budding chemistry — as two actors'. He added: 'It's like, 'Oh, this is nice. Let's not mould this. Let's just let it breathe.' And that's what we did.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal