POLICE ACADEMY V: ASSIGNMENT MIAMI BEACH

US, 1988, 86 minutes, Colour.
Matt Mc Coy, Janet Jones, George Gaynes, Bubba Smith, David Graf, Leslie Esterbrook, G.W.Bailey, Michael Winslow, Lance Kinsey.
Directed by Alan Myerson.

Police Academy V was one of the big box-office successes of 1988. It meant that for five years there had been a Police Academy film topping box office income. The plot is much the same. However, Steve Gutenberg is missing from this sequel (his career having received a boost with such films as Three Men and a Baby, Surrender, The Bedroom Window).

However, the rest of the characters are there plus one or two more. The focus is given to George Gaynes as Commandant Lassard. Gaynes, who made such an impression in Tootsie, is given more scope in this film that he was in some of the previous outings. This makes for quite an entertaining film. G.W. Bailey as his vengeful rival and Lance Kinsey as his dim-witted assistant Proctor, also receive much more attention. The regulars, including Bubba Smith as Hightower and David Graf as Tackleberry are all there, with Michael Winslow making some noise impersonations.

The plot is flimsy, the rivalry between the Captain and Commandant Lassard, Lassard being made Police Officer of the Decade and celebration in Miami. This is mixed up with a jewel robbery led by Rene Auberjonois, enjoying himself immensely as an eccentric crook. There are all kinds of mix ups, Lassard thinking that his being kidnapped is merely a police exercise. There are chases through the Florida swamps, all kinds of corny jokes and capitalising on the personalities involved.

There is nothing particularly inventive about the screenplay, but audiences seem happy to accept the familiar characters and just enjoy their being there.

Direction is by Alan Myerson who made an impression with critics in the early '70s with his Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland satiric comedy Steelyard Blues.