2008 Woodie Awards
Bienvenidos a Miami
Reno 911!: Miami has enough laughs to fill up its short runtime
Chris Tompkins '09
Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Reno's finest are back this week on the big screen and in a bigger city. Reno 911!: Miami showcases the incompetence of our favorite public servants as they spread their unique law enforcement techniques outside the confines of Washoe county.
You don't need to be a critic to realize this movie will not be winning any awards. But I think we can appreciate the lampooning of a reality show like Cops in an incredibly original manner. The documentary style coupled with improvisational acting is not something that has been done before on television and is arguably the best thing that has happened to the sitcom since Dinosaurs. The idea might not have been the greatest material to transfer to film, but it still worked reasonably well.
The short running time of the film was a little unsatisfying, and there was a fruitless plotline mystery in which Clem couldn't figure out whose face she got tattooed on her breast. Other than that, however, the film delivered pretty much what anyone who has seen the T.V. show would expect: Hot pants, roller-skating prostitutes, and about 50 hilarious cameos from various well-known standup comics and other movie stars, including Danny DeVito, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Paul Reubens, and Paul Rudd.
The film follows our heroes as they attend a police convention in Miami, Fla. Due to some mix-up with booking, they are forced to stay in a rundown rat's nest. The ensuing evening full of extreme drunkenness and self-abuse causes the gang to be late to the convention center in the morning. As a result, they are not subject to a terrorist attack and become the only cops in the city who are able to perform their duties.
After Dangle and crew take on the task of staving off anarchy in Miami, Reno 911! falls back into sketch comedy routine. There is a thin plot involving an antidote for the biological toxin infecting the roughly 2,000 other cops stuck in the convention center and a Columbian drug lord. (Because what would a movie set in Miami be without a Columbian drug lord?) Other than that, we are basically watching a Reno 911! marathon. What the movie is able to do on screen is allow the troupe to be as explicit as it wants. There are also a lot more explosions. You will be surprised when you see what explodes in this movie.
You don't need to be a critic to realize this movie will not be winning any awards. But I think we can appreciate the lampooning of a reality show like Cops in an incredibly original manner. The documentary style coupled with improvisational acting is not something that has been done before on television and is arguably the best thing that has happened to the sitcom since Dinosaurs. The idea might not have been the greatest material to transfer to film, but it still worked reasonably well.
The short running time of the film was a little unsatisfying, and there was a fruitless plotline mystery in which Clem couldn't figure out whose face she got tattooed on her breast. Other than that, however, the film delivered pretty much what anyone who has seen the T.V. show would expect: Hot pants, roller-skating prostitutes, and about 50 hilarious cameos from various well-known standup comics and other movie stars, including Danny DeVito, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Paul Reubens, and Paul Rudd.
The film follows our heroes as they attend a police convention in Miami, Fla. Due to some mix-up with booking, they are forced to stay in a rundown rat's nest. The ensuing evening full of extreme drunkenness and self-abuse causes the gang to be late to the convention center in the morning. As a result, they are not subject to a terrorist attack and become the only cops in the city who are able to perform their duties.
After Dangle and crew take on the task of staving off anarchy in Miami, Reno 911! falls back into sketch comedy routine. There is a thin plot involving an antidote for the biological toxin infecting the roughly 2,000 other cops stuck in the convention center and a Columbian drug lord. (Because what would a movie set in Miami be without a Columbian drug lord?) Other than that, we are basically watching a Reno 911! marathon. What the movie is able to do on screen is allow the troupe to be as explicit as it wants. There are also a lot more explosions. You will be surprised when you see what explodes in this movie.