Moving Violations (1985)

"I hit a casket with a puppet stage. What am I doing here?"

In Birch County, California, there is a menace on the roads. In fact, there seems to be dozens of them. Lazy, dangerous and blind sums them up pretty well. Deputy Halik (James Keach; Wildcats, The Long Riders) and his partner Deputy Morris (Lisa Hart Carroll) are determined to get the maniacs off the streets. They are the 'moving violations', and all have their cars impounded and are sent back to driving school for their reckless behaviour. 

Among those delinquents is full-time wise guy Dana (John Murray; Scrooged), who Halik takes a particular disliking to. You see, Halik just got demoted to driving instructor due to him smashing up the chief of polices car, and unfortunately for him, the entire class is made up of the very people he busted. It's up to him to ensure they all pass at the end, and if not, then their cars will be auctioned off. The rest of the group consists of nerdy puppeteer, Scott (Brian Backer; The Burning, Fast Times at Ridgemont High), NASA employee, Amy (Jennifer Tilly; He's My Girl, High Spirits, Let it Ride), blind old lady Mrs Houk (Nedra Volz) and gore-addicted nutjob, Wink (Ned Eisenberg; The Burning, The Exterminator), to name but a few.

Despite the best efforts from the class, Halik has no intention of passing any of them. It turns out he has made a deal with the judge (Sally Kellerman) to fail them all, so they can auction off their cars and cut the profits. It's up to Dana to get the rest of the gang together to beat Halik at his own game. Will they convince the Chief of Police something foul is afoot? Will they get their cars back? Can true love survive the madness of drivers ed class?

Moving Violations takes its set up from some of the biggest hits from the era, such as Stripes and Police Acadamy. In fact, I can well imagine the pitch went something like, 'It's 'Police Academy'... but in a driving school!'. And why not? Considering it was written and directed by the creator of Police Academy, it's no real surprise that they followed such a tried-and-tested formula. Saying that, just because the film is a cash-grab on bigger and better films, doesn't mean it can't be worth while. In fact, Moving Violations is actually a very funny film, for the most part. There is a familiarity with the set up that allows the screenwriter to get to the point fairly quick, and in a film like this, that's setting up a bunch of 'wacky' characters to tag gags on for the 90 minute running time.

Luckily enough, the gags do come through fast after the opening scenes, with a healthy mix of visual and verbal jokes getting poured on heavily. Some of the highlights include; Scott's runaway puppet show gate crashing a funeral, Mrs Hauk mistaking the men's room for the ladies, Halik's heavily rigged driving test, Mrs Hauk tumbling through the window whilst Halik and the judge have sex, Wink and his addiction to horror movies ("What's your favorite Friday the 13th?"), Joan mistaking a car mechanic for a doctor, 'Blood runs RED on the highway, and pretty much any scene involving the blind old dear, Mrs Hauk. Some of the more obvious visual gags will get a groan from the audience (the bowling ball moment springs to mind) but they keep things moving along nicely, and you never really have time to ponder how silly the film is.

What makes majority of the jokes work so well is the game cast. John Murray learned much from his older brother, Bill, and seems to be channelling him in nearly every scene. In many ways, his performance is kind of distracting, as his delivery and mannerisms are so close to how Bill Murray is on screen that you kind of wish they could have just gotten Bill Murray for the part. His 'It's not over!' speech is awfully similar in tone and delivery to the one Bill gives in Meatballs. Incidentally, the first choice for actor was Michael J Fox, who probably would have been perfect in the role. James Keach is great as the straight man copper, and the highlight is definitely Nedra Volz as the blind old dear, Mrs Hauk. She steals every scene, and every 'funny old lady' in comedies after this have just been chasing her glory. Jennifer Tilly is saddled with an awful 'pube-perm and glasses' combo that make her look about 50, but she is as entertaining as always. The sadly deceased Wendie Jo Sperber (Back to the Future trilogy) is fantastic also as the hypocondriac, Joan, and we get fun smaller roles from Fred Willard and the debut screen time of Don Cheadle. It really is a great cast, overall.

Directed by Neal Israel, (Bachelor Party, Combat Academy) the film looks great and has a good pace. The many action scenes are well handled, and you can tell it had a decent budget to play around with. The soundtrack is lively enough, and includes the title track performed by Nona Hendryx. Sure, the climax is nearly a direct copy from the ending of The Blues Brothers, but that isn't enough to stop this one being an enjoyable time.  I do have a soft spot for 'anti authority' comedy from the 80's, but I think most fans of the genre from this era will get plenty of laughs when re-discovering this one. Well worth your time.