The improvisational phenoms fueling the viciously funny Comedy Central show Reno 911!, vacate their city and their senses in Reno 911!: Miami, a film that is simply a very long TV episode with more headlining celebrities and much more time for this crew of minstrels to unleash havoc upon the screen in the fashion that best suits them.
Stewing in the humdrum city of Reno, the deputies of the Reno sheriff’s department are handed the proverbial golden ticket to attend a national police delegation in Miami Beach-paradise. This sweet apple turns sour after a terrorist attack locks every other law enforcement agent inside the convention center, leaving the deputies to their own devices to defend the Magic City-with total access to all of the big toys. Overwhelmed and underappreciated, the Reno agents let loose upon the city like a flock of gimpy birds, maintaining order and attempting to save their ill-fated comrades along the way.
The entire gifted TV cast is in the movie: Lieutenant Dangle (Thomas Lennon), Deputies Jones (Cedric Yarbrough), Williams (Niecy Nash), Junior (Ben Garant), Garcia (Carlos Alazraqui), Johnson (Wendi McLendon-Covey), Wiegel (Kerri Kenney) and Kimball (Mary Birdsong). Some of the minor characters also appear, like comedian Nick Swardson as Terry, the man of ill-repute, and a few returning actors from the show enter into the film as new characters, such as Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Michael Ian Black.
The Cops parody style of filming stands the test of the big screen, and, ardent fans, be not dismayed, for many tidbits from the entire series resonate within the movie and are explored even further, such as Terry’s purported affluence and Deputy Kimball’s strange obsession with her own gender.
Ben Garant, who plays Deputy Travis Junior, is the official director and creates a film that is loyal to the series (the movie is, more or less, just an hour and a half Comedy Central special presentation of the show), but also nothing too innovative-a quality that can make or break existing or previous TV shows upon which these movies are based. For instance, exploration of the roomier boundaries within film relative to TV helped South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut become very successful and more renowned (i.e., they could swear in so many novel ways and perform a completely new musical). Miami tries to stay away from any type of experimentation, and so the producers should not be looking for an increase in viewership, but the humor in the end product feels so new and golden anyway that changing what Reno possesses would be hazardous.
Joining Garant are Thomas Lennon and Kerry Kenney-Lt. Dangle and Deputy Wiegel-in writing the film. Of course, it is well known that the show and the movie are principally improvised, which helps give the product a special kind of comic realism.
Fanatics and novices alike will certainly laud Miami strictly for its exhibition of so many famous comedy genres, such as farce, deadpan, toilet humor, improvisational humor, physical humor, with expertise throughout the film. This area is where Miami and the corresponding TV show prevail over many other comedies. The humor is evident in one of the film’s best scenes in which the deputies, attempting to alleviate themselves after a night of mirth, end up “confiding” in only their own company as revealed when the camera moves from window to window of a motel, trying to escape the lonely gumshoes in a relentless, stylistic and timely fashion.
It is in this general area that Miami will attract viewers to the box office, especially as a paramount group-outing event for weekend amusement. But be forewarned: Reno 911!: Miami may seem unassuming until it takes your sense of humor into custody. Book ’em, Reno.
