The premise goes something like this: during an airplane flight, the fish dinner goes bad and causes food poisoning to some of the passangers... including the three pilots. So a traumatised ex fighter pilot (Robert Hayes), his stewardess exgirlfriend (Julie Hagerty) and a doctor (Leslie Nielsen) try to save the passangers from their impending doom.
The movie's humoristic style is superb. It just never takes itself seriously: when you think a serious phonecall is going on, suddenly... you realize there is a horse sleeping next to the woman on the phone. That kind of jokes just don't let you take your eyes off the screen: there is always something silly going on, even, for example, in the background. It's like the movie itself doesn't want you to care for the nonsensical plot. But while it's absurd humor, there is always something something smart behind it. One of the radar screens being actually a laundry machine, for instance, is so surprisingly stupid, it's clever.
The autopilot being an inflatable doll? Genius.
Aside from that nonsensical stuff, you have some of the best running gags I have ever seen. Like, whenever the ex-pilot has a flashback that keeps going on and on everyone around him kill themselves out of boredom. Or whenever everyone asks what they just heard in surprise, they are answered with a thesaurus definition of said thing. Or the black dude's slang being treated as another language (with subtitles and everything).Or the guy back at the airport who has picked a bad week to stop... smoking, drinking, anphetamines...
And how can we forget "Don't call me Shirley."
Another highlight of the film's goofiness is the actors' performances. With the exception of the air traffic controller, which was so stupid it just wasn't as funny, the rest of the cast react to all the nonsense around them like it's nothing. They seem so natural, so oblivious to the fact that there's a nun and a Hare Krishna monk/thingy beating the crap out of each other right next to them, it's just hilarious.
Summing up, this is one of the funniest movies I have ever watched. It's 30 years old and still beats any comedy movie released in the last couple of years. Suck it, Hangover. I can't think of anyone that could watch it and not have a laugh.
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