Spy Hard (1996) Review: The Leslie Nielsen Spoof That Austin Powers Buried

The Slept-On Cinema Case

Stan sets the terms early: "This is the type of movie that is intentionally not made for critics." Every idea anyone had went in. That audacity is the point, and it's why the film feels, in Gus's words, "one of one." The hosts trace how it happened: director Rick Friedberg was making a golf-spoof short with Nielsen, showed him his son's spec script, and Nielsen said yes to two writers who'd never made a movie. It opened third behind Mission: Impossible and Twister and still turned $18 million into $27 million.

The bigger argument is about Nielsen himself. He was a serious dramatic actor for decades before Airplane! cast him against type, and the hosts think he's under-ranked among the all-time greats because he spent his late career doing exactly this. Gus's read on why it works: "There's no hint of irony in anything that Leslie Nielsen says. It's played completely straight."

The first pick

Gus takes the framed photo: Dick Steele mourning his fallen partner by gazing at a picture of her mid-fall off the cliff. "That's how we remember people," he says, and the joke is a throwaway, which makes it better. Stan takes the Weird Al opening credits, a perfect Bond-title parody down to the fart bubbles rising past the silhouetted swimmers. Grobe takes Nielsen himself: "Could this movie have been made with anybody else? I don't think so."

Also drafted: the VCR-tracking scene where every government agent is an expert on channel 3, the name Bud Fudlacker, the Fabio selfie, the pants-down movie poster, and people in movies revealing they could have left the cage at any time (see also Who Framed Roger Rabbit).

BOLOs

• Interacting with the credits, a fluffy silencer, a mime, and the one earring (three episodes running).
• The Blockbuster logo, a Boston accent, a Murphy bed, and a heavy wallet.
• The voice of Rafiki, the Toxic Avenger for a second and a half, and problematic karate faces.
• The word "pickle," bubble wrap, high-risk dentistry, and Mr. Pushy.

Worth watching?

Yes, if you like liking spoof movies. Even Gus concedes the critics aren't wrong about everything: "There are better Leslie Nielsen movies, but there are some moments in this that are definitely worth holding up." Superlative, favorite cameo: Stan takes Mr. T, Grobe takes Ray Charles driving a bus, and Dr. Joyce Brothers tag-teaming in for Hulk Hogan gets an honorable mention. Drink to pair: anything at all, as long as it's through a curly straw. Or a Manhattan, shaken, not stirred, on purpose.

Production observation

Released May 24, 1996. Marcia Gay Harden, who plays Miss Cheevus, went on to win an Oscar for Pollock and has said she never understood her character. The studio trimmed an R-rated cut to PG-13. The hosts' one change to make it a blockbuster: more Nielsen, less everything else. Spin-off pitches: a spoof of spoof movies, and a show called Kabul's Cars about the sidekick who arrives in a different vehicle every scene.

Keep the movie night going

• Sgt. Bilko for another 1996 comedy critics refused to laugh at.
• Last Action Hero for a movie-about-movies that was ahead of its time.
• Movies Critics Got Wrong for more underdog picks.
• The Qualification List for every movie the show has defended.