"Thomas Lennon's 'Reno 911!: Miami'... Can I Have My $6.25 Back?" 181 Pageviews...
Written: Mar 03 '07 (Updated Aug 17 '07)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: The film had occasional animal-related high points.
Cons: 31 minutes of laughter in an 81 minute comedy.
The Bottom Line: There isn't enough funny material to fill the movie; go see Wild Hogs instead.
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| sfarmer76's Full Review: Reno 911: Miami |
Reno 911!: Miami (2007) is a feature film based on the Comedy Central series Reno 911! that rudely parodies the documentary approach of COPS. Unfortunately, there aren’t three episodes worth of humor in this movie written by Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon; Paramount should have insisted upon a script doctor. These screenwriters apparently need comedy lessons from the geniuses that penned Talladega Nights.
Each Reno 911!: Miami ticket holder thinks they’re walking into a Police Academy type movie -- so they’ll be disappointed with this uneven clunker. The basic plot: Reno’s PD is invited to a police convention in Miami and (after arriving via Greyhound) they’re denied entry. Bio-terrorism then forces a quarantine of the entire convention center, leaving the city improbably unprotected.
Now, you have to ask yourself -- could ten cops from Reno fill the void of an entire metropolitan police force effectively? I don’t think so. Compounding things, there’s a ridiculous plotline with a drug lord named Ethan (Rudd) running around kidnapping Miami Beach cops -- torturing them. Another subplot about the origin of Deputy Johnson’s tattoo also sags.
Of course, the chief reason for attending is to chuckle at the weirdly-attired Lieutenant Jim Dangle (Lennon) who is funniest in his improvised scenes; corralling and then cuffing a chicken, downing shots laced with Alka-Seltzer and Pepto-Bismol, trying to keep a drunk out of an alligator infested pool, ogling nude sunbathers, and blowing up a beached whale to disastrous effect.
The film succeeds when it adheres to the mock documentary style but tanks when inserting celebrities in useless cameos. For example, what was the point of having the District Attorney (DeVito) appear in the beginning, when he never appears again? For me, the one sight gag that did work was when The Rock accidentally blew himself up with a grenade.
One other role struck my funny bone here, that of Deputy Assistant City Manager Jeff Spoder who was portrayed by comedian Patton Oswalt. Late in the film we discover Spoder is working together with “Ethan the Drug Lord” -- then Spoder unexpectedly shoots Ethan and he flees on a golf cart, with golf-carted Reno deputies in uproarious hot pursuit.
My final opinion of the film is undoubtedly shaded by my age. If I were eighteen all the bawdy language, gratuitous nudity, and puerile behavior might seem funnier than it is. Mostly I was disappointed with the performances of Mary Birdsong, Kerri Kenney, Wendi McLendon-Covery, Niecy Nash, and Cathy Shim -- since they merely propped up the male actors.
In the end, many of the jokes presented within Reno 911!: Miami fall flat. Alternately, screenwriters Garant and Lennon are responsible for a far funnier film called Night at the Museum that raked in $200 million plus at the box office. It’s kind of hard for me to figure out exactly what went wrong here considering that simple fact.
After suffering through long quiet stretches, you’ll wonder why funny moments are buried in the end credits. Dangle hooks up with a pony-tailed bikini clad bimbo midway through the flick -- and during the end credits we discover she’s only fourteen. As Dangle is shoving her back into her parent’s minivan, he retorts “look me up when you’re sixteen…”
My dislike for the movie isn’t tempered by the fact that Reno 911!: Miami managed to eek out a mediocre $10 million dollar opening. That kind of box office indicates to me that at least 645,000 moviegoers feel snookered and want their money back. If Paramount is actually dumb enough to attempt a sequel, they better bring the comedic goods!
I hoped to recommend Reno 911!: Miami but sadly it kinda sucks. Rent Super Troopers sometime if you want true laughs. Personally, I can’t name a single movie adapted from a television show that transcends the source material; I wish movies studios would stop attempting this crap. The only thing Hollywood succeeded at here was in irritating the devoted fans of the program.
(68/181)
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The Movie:
Reno 911!: Miami (2007)
Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating:
R for drug use, nudity, profanity, and sexual references.
Running Time:
1 Hr. 21 Min.
Sound:
Dolby Digital
If You Like Reno 911!: Miami (2007) you might enjoy:
Arrested Development
Chappelle's Show
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Family Guy
My Name Is Earl
South Park
The Office
Visit the studio’s Official Websites:
www.paramountpictures.com
www.reno911movie.com
Recommended:
No
Viewing Method: Studio Screening/Premiere
Worst Part of this Film: Plot
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sfarmer76
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