RENO 911!: MIAMI — ** — Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant, Kerry Kenney-Silver; rated R (vulgarity, violence, profanity, sex, nudity, drugs, brief gore, racial epithets).
"Reno 911!: Miami" is pretty much a feature-length movie version of a television show that sometimes has trouble finding enough material for even one 30-minute episode.
And if anything, this movie spin-off from the popular Comedy Central program is even cruder and dumber. That means the inclusion of content like nudity and profanity, which usually have to be blurred or bleeped on the small screen.
Still, those who are amused by the television show will chuckle at least a few times. A handful of laugh-out-loud gags are scattered throughout — even if some of them are in just the TV spots or trailers, or during the closing-credits "outtakes."
This comedy follows the members of the Reno Sheriff's Department as they trek from Nevada to Miami Beach.
Led by their commanding officer, Lt. Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon), the Reno cops are planning to attend a national law-enforcement convention. But their reservations were lost, and they're denied entrance.
That turns out to be fortunate, though. There's been a bio-terrorist attack, and now the convention site is in lockdown. And the only police officers available for duty are our bungling heroes.
Like the television show, much of the film is shot like a "COPS"-style reality program. The movie also tries to mine laughs from some of the same jokes — like the bit about Dangle's outrageously tight and short shorts.
Series regulars Lennon, Robert Ben Garant and Kerry Kenney-Silver wrote the screenplay and are smart enough to give time to comic actors Patton Oswalt and Paul Rudd. (The cameo by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is silly fun as well.)
"Reno 911!: Miami" is rated R for strong sexual material (crude slang and profanity, as well as simulated sex and other sexual contact), other vulgar humor (flatulence gags), mostly comic violence (shootings, and vehicular and explosive mayhem), female and partial male nudity, drug content and references (cocaine and methamphetamine), gore and racial epithets. Running time: 84 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com