Review of Reno 911!: Miami (2007) by Gareth J — 13 Nov 2008

As a fan of the TV series I had a feeling this would be a hoot, and I wasn't disappointed. Whilst the many unexpected situational hilarities that befall the titular group of idiotic bent cops may be unable to survive repeated viewings, first time around the film largely manages to keep entertainment values high.

It seems director/actor Robert Ben Garant has gone to some lengths to revise his knowledge of classic 80s action films in order to provide this feature length edition with something beyond its obvious harkings toward both Cops and Police Academy. The cinematic action film cliche of an opener is simply a classic example of how far removed real police work is from Hollywood's gun and glory masterbatory fantasy. The majority is fart, sex and gay jokes but really was the series itself ever more than that? Garant and co-writers/stars Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney were never striving for Shakespeare and those looking for such are best advised to stay away.

The stand out role, as always, is Thomas Lennon. Lennon's cult iconic gay cop Lt. Dangle was always the best character in the show and his performance here cements it, playing a man surrounded by inadequate fools whilst struggling to deny that he's just as much of a loser. Yet it does take a unique mind to concieve an escape from certain doom by pretending to be a strip-a-gram. hehe! The only person who comes close to Lennon is Paul Rudd, whose impression of Tony Montana is both impressive and hilarious.

Unfortunately, some of the other plot threads don't hold as much water. It seems that the majority of gags have been greedily snapped up by Lennon and Kenney, who largely suppliment the main narrative with the usual formula of uncomfortable sexual stuff-ups and inappropriate moments. Ben Garant's minor subnarrative of trying to woo an Asian hotty is somewhat interesting, but the other characters seem to have not been used to their full potential. This is particularly the case of Carlos Alazrqui, whose irritable and usually violent Garcia is almost completely ignored amidst a boring thread about a tattoo and numerous snigger-worthy cracks about Niecy Nash's big fat bum.

Also, the ending does trail off a bit too much in that the last fifteen minutes seems to try a little too hard for scripted laughs and Police Academy style 80s charm. What makes the TV show, and the majority of the film, work so well is that it feels coincidental. Trying to script 'humorous' dialogue into what is essentially a string of character pieces is like trying to script stand-up comedy and really detracts quite shamefully from the film's previous comedic bliss.

Strictly speaking, Reno 911 is a cult show. Thus, only fans of the show would probably find it a laugh riot from beginning to end. Still, if you're interested in seeing both a sperm whale and The Rock get blown to bloody bits, this may be a pleasant surprise.