Reviewed by Lamar Kukuk
3/4/07
If there's nothing else a
movie studio loves, it's a concept with a pre-existing audience.
It's for that reason that multiplexes are forever jammed with sequels,
adaptations of novels, remakes, and movies based on old TV shows, videogames
and toys. And, of course, what has more of a built-in audience than
taking the cast of a current TV series and giving them their own movie?
This rarely works, but everybody wants to give it a shot, the less-seen
the series, the better. I have never seen Comedy Central's wacky
police sitcom Reno 911!, and aside from a funny trailer I had little
reason to be optimistic about their big-screen adventure, Reno 911!:
Miami. But that's why they play 'em: Miami is a
genuinely hilarious comedy, the kind of fine cinematic effort I haven't
seen since Steve Guttenberg left the Police Academy series.
The Reno, Nevada Sheriff's
department is not exactly a crack law-enforcement unit. In fact,
they're so pitiful they can barely catch a chicken loose on the road.
But they do have their own ongoing documentary series (a camera follows
all the film's events) and they're invited to the National Police Convention
in Miami because, well, everyone's invited. So they load up
the entire force (leaving the city either unprotected or better-off, depending
on your point of view) in a bus and head across-country. Alas, their
registrations aren't in the computer and, rather than the four-star hotel
they were expecting, they end up in a sleezy dive while the convention
is attacked by a bio-weapon that gives everyone inside just days to live.
So, with cops from all over America locked-down, not only must eight incompetent
losers find the antidote, but they must also protect the city until they
do. Luckily for them, the diabolical conspirators behind the attack
are almost as stupid as they are. Just why does a mad drug lord (Paul
Rudd) who seems to have seen Scarface a few thousand times keep
setting traps for the team?
A TV show trying to blow
itself up to feature length faces many built-in challenges. A 30-minute
TV episode is basically 23 minutes long when you take away the commercials,
so even getting up to Reno 911!: Miami's brief 84 minute length
means quadrupling the amount of plot, jokes and, well, footage involved
in a regular episode. What helps in this case is that the story decided
upon by series stars and screenwriters Robert Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney-Silver
and Thomas Lennon (Lennon is a working writer whose credits include Night
at the Museum) is a movie story first and a Reno 911! story
second. Wacky underdogs forced to rise to the occasion and save the
city from an equally unhinged criminal conspiracy is a time-tested formula
as long as the jokes are funny, and here, they're great. The gang's
largely improvised banter is hilarious, the characters, led by Lennon's
Lt. Dangle, are as lovable as they are pathetic, and Rudd's Al Pacino impression
is delightful. The movie's nasty streak of animal humor also works
particularly well: in addition to the chicken, standout bits include
a visit to a nude beach to dispose of a beached whale carcass (Funniest!
Carcass! Ever!) and an animal control call to a house with an alligator
in the pool who's either dead or viciously homicidal. Miami seems
pretty safe given how little real crime Reno's finest come up against while
patrolling the streets, but then... did anyone check the plug on that 911
switchboard? The humor is, of course, pretty crude and sophomoric,
but would you actually buy a ticket for a movie like this expecting anything
else?
As much as the story is just
a clothesline to hang gags on, I was surprised in the end by how much I
wanted these fools to finally get it right. I don't want to give
too much away, but the nature of the conspirators and their plan, when
finally revealed, is a hoot, and the way Dangle and Co. finally catch on
tells you everything you need to know about their fine detective skills.
The plot can't always sustain its' momentum, and not all of the gags are
hits, but everything moves fast enough to keep it from ever getting dull.
I laughed a lot during Reno
911!: Miami, and it's got me curious to check out the TV show
upon which it's based. It's silly, stupid, and juvenile. What
else could you ask for? |
