Reno 911!: Miami

I know that many people are complaining about the short length of the movie, a sparse 84 min, but what's there is funny. I know that when I left the theater, my face, as well as the faces of my 9 friends who came with me were hurting from laughing so hard. If you a fan of the show, you will love the inside jokes and cameo of one of the shows most beloved characters (I won't spoil that for you, just look at the cast for yourself). There are also plenty of notable celebrity cameos such as Danny DeVito, and The Rock to name a few. I will admit that it isn't exactly up for any awards, nor will it go down in history as one of the funniest movies of history, but it has its moments. If you liked the show, you will like the movie.

If you never watched the show before maybe the movie won't have the same effect on your laughing muscles but if you like me loved the show then you will love this movie as well. Reno 911!: Miami is basically a longer version of an episode of the show. You have to know the characters to fully appreciate this movie. Lieutenant Jim Dangle being my favorite character will always make me laugh out loud. Thomas Lennon Is just phenomenal as this character, but so are all the other characters (deputees Travis Junior, Raineesha Williams, Trudy Wiegel, Clementine Johnson, James Garcia, S. Jones and Cherisha Kimball). The humor is a bit kinky and sometimes absurd but it works for me and for alot of other people too. Too bad this show is not on anymore.

I actually enjoy the show and was very unsure about how it could be translated into a movie, so my expectations were not terribly high initially. Then I read one of the reviews on here that said that the movie was much less funny than the show, and overall rather disappointing. After that, my expectations were even lower, so I was pretty much expecting a dud when I went in.

I see what people were saying about it being strange that they tried to shove a plot into what should essentially be series of skits, but contrary to the reviews I've read, I thought it worked just fine. If anything, the cliché terror-attack plot paired with the cliché drug-lord plot were just meant to be a throwaway satire of the kinds of awful plots some franchises have to create in order to be translated into a feature film format ("over-the-top" action "worthy" of the big screen). If anything it just provided for some completely ridiculous scenarios that this viewer found quite entertaining.

As far as the cameos, yeah, they remove you from what shred of "reality" was left in this reality TV parody, but I felt like they worked. For one thing, minus the Rock and Danny DeVito, most of the cameos were not necessarily people everyone is going to recognize. Half the theater was asking "who's that?" when members of Stella showed up, or when someone from Upright Citizen's Brigade was on the screen. But for people who've loved the work of these semi-famous comedians over the years, their presence was a bonus. Not to mention it made the film into an effort by the whole Comedy Central family, which was kind of endearing.

Anyway, going in with low expectations and trying not to take it seriously (it is a comedy, after all), you should have a good time viewing this.

Whenever I saw the regular series on television I definitely enjoyed it. "Reno 911!" is a highly creative and very funny show. However much to my dismay I've only caught bits and pieces of it so I went into this film not knowing nearly as much of the characters' backgrounds as many others in the theater on opening night. Fortunately, enough was explained that newcomers could quickly pick up on what went on despite some in-jokes definitely being present. Now even with bearing my limited level of "Reno 911!" expertise in mind I thought it was hilarious. The biggest problem this film will face is it was setup in a very similar style to last year's "Borat". Between the carefree male nudity and how sex was addressed, the resemblance was very much alike. Despite this approach being taken, this was very much its own movie and accomplished what it set out for.

The real-time mockumentary comedy that "Reno 911" represents has been prevalent on television for the past few years and recently it appears as if it's now being a preferred alternative on the big screen as well. This is with good reason because the characters seem more like actual everyday people than some ridiculous caricature that doesn't resemble anything close to a human being. Viewers can identify with these personalities more and thus stand a better chance of becoming sucked into the different situations no matter how over the top they are. I predict that humorous films will start adhering to this relatively new formula and will be the kick-start to a whole new generation of cinema.

Notwithstanding some of the downright hysterical moments, there were some pieces that didn't work. To start off with, the first half was much funnier then the latter part. As if the writers began running out of jokes and settled for any suitable finale. Also most of the dialog in the show is improvised where it appears that for the movie it was scripted the other way around and this certainly took away from the actors' spontaneity. Finally some of the scenarios are almost a little too far-fetched, even for a notorious farcical ensemble cast such as this.

All in all I found myself laughing out loud a lot and was very glad I caught this one. It appears it won't beat out the television show due to the advantage of getting to compress the running time, but it's still a very comical motion picture that'll guarantee to put just about anyone in stitches. I'd say there's a very good chance a sequel will be in the works and surely look forward to it. Law enforcement is no stranger to either parodies of itself or becoming a target for instances of goofiness that could never really happen, but this is a new take on big-hearted police officers that can't seem to get anything right that'll have you mimicking them for hours on end. Between the witty quotes, the oddball lawbreakers, and the refreshing celebrity guest list…Miami didn't know what hit it!

I was pretty excited to see this movie after being a fairly big fan of the show and I am very let down. I can't put my finger on just what it is that made it so different from the show. Perhaps it's the fact that the show has the homemade "Cops" feel to it and you could tell the movie was Hollywood produced. Maybe it was that the show seems to be funnier and more creative. Whatever the reason, I was sad to see such a good show reduced to such an average and boring movie.

The characters and actors are all the same but they almost seemed to be holding back from the performances they give on the show. The story was boring and not as creative as usual but there were definitely a few good funny moments that kept me from rating movie lower. I just thought it was average Hollywood comedy fare that really doesn't deserve a theatrical release. Maybe I would have liked it if it weren't for all the hype surrounding it.

I guess you should see this if you like the show but don't expect something as funny. It's like a half as funny version of the show that was less thought out.