Posted: 02/28/07

What's the police code for 'not funny'?
Reno 911!: Miami is criminally devoid of any comedy

Jon Taylor l managing editor
jtaylor@smcvt.edu

It must be difficult for screenwriters to sit in a room alone and decide what audiences are going to find entertaining. The decisions that occur on the computer screen of solitary screenwriters like Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) usually translate into serious humor when audiences finally experience their work in movie theaters around the world. That’s why it’s difficult for me to believe that three people had a hand in writing Reno 911!: Miami.

Reno 911!: Miami takes its setup from the relatively popular Comedy Central show Reno 911! and brings it to the big screen. The television series is a satirical COPS-style look at the ludicrous goings-on of moronic cops who run the town of Reno, Nevada. The premise is light and airy, much like the storyline that this gang adapts in their new surroundings.

The plot is so thin and bare-bones that it’s not even worth recounting here. There’s something about a police convention being quarantined because of a terrorist scare and blah, blah, blah. Of course, the only squad available to police Miami is comprised of the imbeciles from Reno, whose ridiculous antics always cause more harm than good, but somehow, they end up saving the day nonetheless. But forget about that; we all know that it’s not important.

What is supposed to be important in a movie like Reno 911!: Miami is the laughs. Unfortunately, they come few and far-between, transforming what could be a giggle-inducing film into an exercise in extreme triviality.

Writing humor without much of a storyline has become the new standard for Hollywood studios, which unload films like Super Troopers and Van Wilder by the truckload on the unassuming public. Ten minutes of setup, an hour of filler, and 15 minutes of attempted gags that almost always fall flat. This formula is the basis for Reno 911!: Miami, which, in its essence, is a slap in its audience’s face.

Three members of the cast (Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney) "wrote" the script for Reno 911!'s jump to the big screen. Aside from some basic outlines, the actors were encouraged to improvise a lot of their scenes (like they do in the TV series). This approach leaves a lot of room for error in the editing room and it seems that much more of their material should have hit the floor.

The actors' improvisation also adds a decent amount of material that would be blurred or bleeped on Comedy Central. This would usually be a welcome addition, but it seems as if F-bombs and topless women don't make Reno 911! any better.

This is not to say that Reno 911!: Miami doesn’t have its bright spots. Some gags work incredibly well, like the gang’s first night a cheap motel and their efforts to deal with a whale carcass that has washed up on the shore of a Miami beach. One of the better elements of the movie is its cameos, which feature Paul Rudd as a Scarface-type gangster and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as a SWAT-team member. However, these cameos do include Danny DeVito, whose “acting” is particularly atrocious. He should always have to stay behind the camera.

In the end, the outline and insipid premise of a show like Reno 911! does not work in a feature-length format. It’s difficult enough to watch 22 minutes of it on Comedy Central, so don’t waste your time seeing in your local theater. You’ll save $8 and a piece of your dignity.

GPA: 1.6