Reno 911!: Miami (2007)
Directed by: Ben Garant
Premise: Based on the Comedy Central television show. A team of burnout cops attends a law enforcement convention in Miami and find themselves serving and protecting the entire Miami area when a bio-terrorism attack quarantines all local police officials.
What Works: The biggest asset of the show was its delicate sense of reality and for the most part the film captures that. Reno 911!: Miami combines satire of reality television shows like Cops with the sensibility of spoof films like Top Secret or UHF and for the most part it is on par with those pictures. Something the show and the film pull off very well is creating a complete sense of these characters, playing them straight, and then letting the laughs compound through running jokes that stack up on top of one another. Particularly good is Thomas Lennon as Lieutenant Jim Dangle, whose has a great sense of comic timing and delivery.
What Doesn’t: There is an interesting tension in Reno 911!: Miami that sends the film awry in places. On one hand, the film does not do much with its characters and scenarios beyond what has been seen on the television show, which is disappointing. On the other hand, when the film does step away from the spoof on Cops and other law enforcement reality television, it loses the key to its humor. It’s unclear what a happy medium between the two would be, but at times the tension does strain the picture.
Bottom Line: Reno 911!: Miami essentially plays like an extended episode of the Comedy Central television show and it will probably play better on home video than it does in theaters. However, Reno 911!: Miami is still very funny. Like Borat or Dumb and Dumber, its characters are stupid but likeable and that in itself an accomplishment.
Episode: #132 (March 11, 2007)