BENNETT INVENTORY : That Moment

Hot Shots! Part Deux -- Charlie don't surf

Movie comedy is kinda abstract - at least when you hold it up to the traditional setup/punchline formula. When you add the names of Abrahams and/or Zucker, you can disregard that observation; even at their most bizarre they serve humor big & juicy and it looks just like it does in the picture. The minds behind the Holy Franchise Trinity of Airplane!, The Naked Gun, and Hot Shots! utilized every basic and lowbrow language of laughs that ever existed and they did it well. There've been dozens of "Parody" films with similar tones that've been released since their heyday (1980-1994) that couldn't even come close to the correct equation (and resulting in some of the worst Cinema I ever saw).

But we're not here for that - we're here for the most expertly layered lampoon in any of the aforementioned flicks, because it follows the basic formula and then unfolds and blossoms far beyond its initial baffoonery - in way under a minute. The scene begins with Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen) on a fishing boat on a river in Iraq, writing in a journal accompanied by his own voiceover narration. After a few seconds, we hear the voice of Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) begin to bleed into the audio, reciting some of his very same narration from Apocalypse Now. It's a cute and appropriate nod, but then they cut to Martin Sheen, on a different boat, reprising his iconic role from 1979, in costume, reading the Kurtz dossier. And as the two boats approach each other, the two actors rise to their feet and make eye contact, and as they pass each other, they both simultaneously say, "I loved you in Wall Street!" followed by a thumbs-up gesture. 

What started as a cutesy reference to a Classic Film (with an ironic familial connection) quickly escalated into what is probably my favorite movie cameo of all time, followed by the most perfectly written and executed punchline in all of "these kinds of movies." The entire film is exceptional (I prefer it over the first), but that moment is funnier and more clever than anything Brando did on the Nùng River.

- Paul