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Reno 911: Miami (2007) DVD Review
Reno 911: Miami (2007) DVD Credits:
Reno 911: Miami (2007) Directed by:
Ben Garant
Reno 911: Miami (2007) Written by:
Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney, Ben Garant
Reno 911: Miami (2007) Cast:
Thomas Lennon, Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney, Cedric Yarbrough, Carlos Alazraqui, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Niecy Nash, Mary Birdsong, Paul Rudd, Nick Swardson
Reno 911: Miami (2007) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Reno 911: Miami (2007) DVD Release Date:
18th June 2007
Our Rating: Extras Rating:

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Reno 911: Miami (2007) Synopsis:

"Reno 911!: Miami" finds the Comedy Central officers visiting a national police convention in Miami Beach at the height of spring break. When the convention center is bio-attacked, it's up to Reno's "finest" to save the day.

Reno 911: Miami (2007) DVD Review:

Following the brilliance of “Hot Fuzz” is the cold fizz of “Reno 911: Miami.” This begs a simple question: can cop movie parodies survive in a post-“Hot Fuzz” world? This film sure can’t as it isn’t even super enough to join the “Super Troopers” clan. Instead, it lies somewhere between “Last Action Hero” and “Police Academy: Mission to Moscow.”

Am I a fan of the Comedy Central show? Of course. Nothing goes down better at 3am then a 20-minute bout of this staccato reality comedy that is set in Reno and contains less plot than an actual episode of “Cops.” Now that they’re playing in the big leagues, however, our Reno PD friends find themselves in plotsville after they are invited to a cop convention in Miami. The crew gets kicked out and after a scuffle with “real” cops only to return to the next day to find that every cop in town has been quarantined in the wake of a “24”-esq biological attack by a "Scarface" posing Paul Rudd. “You’re the only thing standing between complete chaos and order” the Feds tells them, unaware that when the Reno PD are in charge the only thing that keeps chaos in check is their even-worse form of anarchy. From zero plot to ruling over an entire city like some “Grand Theft Auto” overlord, as you can plainly see “Reno 911: Miami” has gone all high concept on us. And this comedic wound turns to be the fatal because the essence of the show is it's documentary realism, not sensationalism.

Speaking of sensationalism, the film opens with a glossy ode to cop movies that clutters the screen with swirling helicopters, dazzling gunplay, and a slow-mo entrance of the Reno followed by the randomness of Danny De Vito cameo. This moment is quickly followed by Deputy Junior waking up from a dream while behind the wheel. “You know you’re driving, right” Dangle tells the somniferous Junior before his car rams into a porta potty. Okay, punch lines like that (along with whale pushing and alligator slapping) had me laughing big time but what’s not as funny is the film’s constant need to remind us that this is a big feature. The more ambitious, funnier, and accessible this film tries to be the worse it comes off; normally I assume that a great half-hour comedy like “Reno 911” can’t possibly find enough material to fill a feature length but this film can’t even muster up an episode’s worth of laughs! After all, deadpan lines like “We’re in Miami. This city’s got hot Latin flavor up to its nuts” indicate the desperation and utter lack of spontaneity at play. In this respect we’re all better off skipping this dismal feature and just watch more episodes.

DVD Extras
No less than three commentaries! The first one, however, is the only good one. Director Robert Garant (who plays Deputy Junior) and actor/writer Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney take us through the "Reno" process by discussing their “unfettered improv” style along with the pro-nudity/short-shorts notion that “Our general policy on the show is that vanity is the enemy of funny.” Additionally, their scene analysis and on-set stories like “boy, that g-string really did hurt” managed to be more interesting (and funny) than the actual film they are talking about.

The other two commentaries take a different approach, they’re in-character. No doubt this was inspired by the legendary “This is Spinal Tap” commentary which is the only funny character commentary to date. Improv for a few minutes on screen is one thing but to improve an entire film is never a good idea. Apparently these kinds of commentaries are also the enemy of funny. As are the available extended scenes which, due to the nature of ten actors doing improve, amble way long. Somewhat better are the included set of public service announcements that advise patrons not to shoot in the movie theater (“I’m sure excited about X-Men 3, maybe if it’s super-cool I’ll shoot the screen”) and avoid illegal downloading. This is a bit ironic because actually paying to see this sub par comedy is the worst thing a viewer can do.

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Reno 911: Miami (2007) DVD review written by: Greg Douglass

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