Mel Gibson's Unauthorized Video Diary (1989)

This was a half hour look at the making of Lethal Weapon 2, but not your common, run-of-the-mill behind-the-scenes-show. This one is video taped clips featuring Mel Gibson goofing around on the set, mostly scripted, and it's extremely funny. The clips range from slapstick, to satire, to parody, with some off-the-cuff interviews with the crew, and even a musical number is added. I hate to admit, but Gibson does really well here at physical comedy.

Let me note that some of the gags and jokes are cheap laughs, but many, many more are absolutely brilliant. For example, Mel touches on pampered celebrities when he finds a "Quitter"- a non-elastic sock. He *furiously* confronts an executive of Warner Bros.(knocking out the guy's secretary in the process), only to find Chevy Chase has one too. They are calmed by new socks and shoelaces. Also, after he admits to wearing a toupee, he cites that there can be industrial espionage to halt movie production. That fact is demonstrated by Dan Ackroyd, who throws a knife into Mel's leg. Funny sight gag. And, Mel and Joe Pesci re-enact the "hit me" scene from Raging Bull atop a building, but Joe was goaded into participating.

One hilarious running joke is where Mel is looking for Danny Glover! The best part of this gag is where he peeks into Glover's trailer and--sort of like the Tardis from Dr. Who--it's a full nightclub! As Mel entered and is searching within he finally asks the crowd, "Who are you guys? Are you all friends of his?" The brief interview by M.G. to the crew had one standout moment. A crew member, with Mel says to the camera "This is one of my oldest and dearest friends here. We've known each other about six or seven...hours?" There is also a very funny parody of autograph seekers, as a man runs after Gibson driving a car.

The only negative is that, as Mr. Gibson said from the beginning, we aren't always able to see and hear stuff, because they use a very cheap video camera.

Since HBO hadn't shown this special in a while, I am tempted to list every bit, but there are too many. Hopefully it will show up on a Lethal Weapon 2 special DVD. Mel's catch phrase during this show was "Gee, I hope nobody saw that." That phrase should *not* apply to this great Unauthorized Video Diary.