Reno 911!: Miami

Robert Ben Garant

BY Noel DixPublished Feb 28, 2007

As a television show, Reno 911! is a slept-on gem that never receives the love it deserves. With a promising-looking feature film on its hands this would have been a great opportunity to spread the word on Nevada’s not so finest. That’s not to say that viewers won’t get some cheap laughs but this great show could have made a much stronger run at bringing its charm to the masses.

Reno’s police squad is invited to Miami for a law enforcement conference but something is botched with the reservations and Lt. Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon) and his crew are forced to shack up at a questionable motel and spend their vacation hitting the hot spots and crossing each other’s sexual boundaries. Things take a twist though when a terrorist attack quarantines the entire city’s police forces, leaving Reno to represent and turn Miami upside down. Moments like eight people trying to figure out a massive phone system for the first time are some of the better subtle comedy moments.

As the team basically gives up even trying to run the show and instead spend their nights getting trashed, a crime lord (Paul Rudd) complicates their vacation and later winds up being the key figure in the current terrorist events. If you’ve ever watched a Police Academy movie you can basically figure out the rest, but picture it with more nudity and sex jokes.

Reno 911!: Miami is a funny film but it could have been hilarious had the show stuck with the on-duty calls and minimal plot that works so well on television. Sure, if you’re going to expand to the big screen you have more money to play with and more time to fill but the extra emphasis on sex gags and naked women knocks the formula out of whack and winds up coming off as a half-assed MTV flick.

And there are hardly any scenes with Jonesy and Garcia, making it feel like Hollywood broke up a group of friends in order to pack a theatrical punch that’s not quite as strong as any given season of this great series.

(Fox)

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