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"Bringin' Sexy Back
to South Beach..." |
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Directed by Ben Garant -
Written by Ben Garant
Thomas Lennon, Kerri
Kenney
Starring Carlos
Alazraqui, Mary
Birdsong, Robert Ben
Garant, Kerri
Kenney-Silver, Thomas
Lennon, Wendi McLendon-Covey,
Niecy Nash, Cedric
Yarbrough, Terry
Swarsden, Paul Rudd,
David Wain, Michael
Showalter, Michael Ian
Black, Nick Swardson,
Joe Lo Truglio, Paul
Reubens, David Koechner
Distributed by Paramount -
2007 - 84m - Rated R |
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Jacob Hall's
Review
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C |
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I’m a fan of “Reno 911!” |
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Not a big fan…I don’t
watch it every week and I don’t consider it to be a pinnacle of
comedy, but I own some of the DVDs and I usually find it pretty damn
funny. So, the idea of seeing the cast of criminally incompetent
police officers hit the big screen made me very, very happy.
However, upon leaving the theatre, I realized that some comedy can
only work in certain mediums. On TV, “Reno 911!” is hilarious
because it’s presented as a faux documentary, complete with censored
nudity and language. On the big screen, the movie is filled to it’s
bursting point with f-bombs and nudity. The IDEA of outrageous
events, as seen on the show, is ultimately much funnier than going
all out.
“Reno 911!: Miami” gets off to a great start, with the Reno
Sheriff’s Department trying to capture a rogue chicken on a desert
highway. This is the funniest scene in the movie, so it’s all
downhill from there. Our heroes soon learn that they’ve been invited
to a police convention in Miami and like that, they’re off. After a
devastating biological attack, the cops from Reno learn that they
are the only officers in all of Miami that aren’t in quarantine. So,
naturally, it’s up to them to police the city.
Like the show, “Reno 911!: Miami” is mostly improvised and the
talent on display is pretty remarkable…sort of. The show, through
multiple episodes, was able to balance all of the talent, allowing
different characters to take center stage at different times. Since
the movie has to keep driving forward, much of the large cast is
ignored. Thomas Lennon as the shorts-wearing Lt. Dangle, Kerri Kenny
as the disturbed Trudy Wiegel and Ben Garrant as Travis Junior seem
to get the most screentime. Niecy Nash, Mary Birdsong and Wendi
McLeondon-Covey get some time. Cedric Yarbrough and Carlos Alazraqui
have almost nothing to do…a shame, since they are two of my favorite
characters on the show.
Ultimately, everything that’s great about the show is stretched to
the breaking point here. I’d say that there is a good, solid laugh
every ten minutes, but when the movie is only 84 minutes long,
that’s not a lot of laughing. I’d compare this to the (stronger)
“Strangers With Candy” movie…some comedy just works better in twenty
minute chunks.
Coupled with a format that keeps changing (sometimes the fake doc
approach, and then inexplicably not) and a story that goes nowhere
for an hour and then desperately tries to (and fails) at the end,
this is one of the bigger disappointments I’ve sat through in some
time. I truly wanted to like this movie…I can give it the slightest
of recommendations for fans of the series, but I found it impossible
to love. Instead, I’ll suggest renting the DVDs and watching the
episodes in a marathon instead. |
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© Written by Jacob Hall -
Email
Me! |
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How We Rated This Film
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TC Candler -
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| Richard Propes
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Jacob Hall
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C |
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TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Richard Propes' Comment
n/a
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