Reno 911!: Miami Information

Reno 911!: Miami is a 2007 comedy film based on Comedy Central's Reno 911! directed by cast member Robert Ben Garant, who plays "Junior". It was released on February 23, 2007. The film opened at #4 with an estimated gross of $10.4 million.

Plot

The movie opens outside of a building where terrorists are holding hostages and a nuclear bomb. The Reno Sheriff's Department arrives in a helicopter to handle the situation. The main characters come off the helicopter wearing their tactical suits and carrying guns and ammo, except for Dep. Clementine Johnson (Wendi McLendon-Covey), who is wearing skimpy lingerie under a trench coat.

As the Sheriff's Department prepares for the mission, the agents overseeing the action notice their commanding officer is missing. Lt. Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon) bursts into the scene on a motorcycle, wearing his trademark hot pants, only to crash after jumping a police car. Deputy Travis Junior (Robert Ben Garant) then wakes up and realizes it was all a dream. He realizes that he was driving, and both he and Dangle crash through a construction site into a port-a-john.

The film continues with introductory clips of the officers, telling how they became interested in law enforcement, à la COPS. After a scene involving a chicken in the road miscoded as an "armed person on a roof", Lt. Dangle tells everyone that they have been invited to the American Police Convention in Miami Beach, but after the 35 hour bus ride, the group realizes their names are not on the entrance list, so they can not get their entrance passes or hotel keys. They end up booking rooms at a motel downtown, which seems to be a hub of illegal activity. That night, the police officers change into skimpy clothing and attempt to seduce one another with alcohol. As all are unsuccessful, they turn to self-pleasure. This prompts a disgusted Jones to run away, as he sees everyone through their open windows.

After everyone recovers from their hangovers (including Johnson who spends the rest of the film trying to figure out the identity of a man whose face she had tattooed on her left breast the night before, who in the end turns out to be García), the team goes to the convention site to see if their tickets were found. When they get there they see that the entire building has been blocked off and covered because of a bio-chemical terrorist attack. The only people left outside are the HazMAT people, National Security, and assistant deputy mayor Jeff Spoder (Patton Oswalt).

The head of National Security tells the Reno Sheriffs Department that since they are the only Police officers available, they will have to provide law enforcement for all of Miami Beach. A high-ranking SWAT agent (Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock) arrives on the scene, but he ends up blowing himself up when he tries to show the team how to handle a grenade.

The team arrives at the Miami Beach Sheriff's Department and finds that everything there is a lot better than what they have in Reno, including the squad cars; Miami Beach Sheriff Deputies ride in 2006 Mustangs instead of old Crown Victorias. The team responds to several emergency calls, which include an alligator in a swimming pool (a careless neighbor gets killed), street prostitution (which turns out to be repeat Reno offender Terry, who claims to have flown into town on his private jet to record an album), and a dead beached whale, which they decide to remove by blowing up the whale and chunks of flesh fly everywhere.

As usual, the team has fun with their antics around the city. They find out that the person who poisoned all the police officers at the convention was Jeff. His plan was to gang up with Ethan the drug lord (Paul Rudd), who pretends to be Cuban but is really from Colorado and take over Miami Beach. Jeff kills the drug lord when he is discovered and runs off with the antidote. The team chases him down on golf carts and just as they are about to get beaten in a showdown on a bridge, Jones and Garcia show up in a Marine helicopter and the acting Mayor gives up. Lt. Dangle puts him under arrest and in a squad car when Trudy, who is in the AH-1 Cobra helicopter, accidentally fires one of the missiles into that same squad car.

The next day, all the law enforcement officers receive the antidote. All of the officers clap and congratulate the Reno Sheriff's Department on their work done well. Lt. Dangle gets a job offer from the Aspen, Colorado, Sheriff's Department (his dream job) and accepts. He tells the team that while he has enjoyed working with them, he is leaving.

The team is about to board the bus when Terry tells them that he has got a jet. He offers them a ride in his jet and claims that his limo is just about to arrive to take him to the airport. No one believes him until a limo drives up to pick up Terry. In awe, they all ride with Terry in the limo to the jet and apologize for not believing him.

Back in Reno, Garcia briefs the team. The door opens, interrupting his talk, and Dangle walks up to take the briefing sheets from Garcia. Apparently, the Aspen Sheriff's Department found out Dangle was gay and have a strict policy against hiring homosexuals. Trudy goes up to Dangle, cups his private parts, and tells them that he actually came back for her. With that said, Dangle continues the briefing, revealing that the Reno Sheriffs Department has been invited the National Police Convention at Scotland Yard. The movie ends with everyone cheering.

Stars

The film stars Thomas Lennon, Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Cedric Yarbrough, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Niecy Nash, Carlos Alazraqui, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, and Mary Birdsong. Certain famed actors make cameos, namely Michael Ian Black (who co-starred with Lennon and Kenney in Viva Variety), Patton Oswalt (Comedian and King of Queens co-star), Danny DeVito (also one of the film's executive producers), Paul Reubens (playing a different character than he plays on the series), Nick Swardson (who appears as his show character "Terry") and Dwayne Johnson (professional wrestler The Rock). All members of The State appear in the movie. This is the first time every member has been together on camera in quite some time.

The theme song, "Police and Thieves", is performed by Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. This is alluded to by Lennon, Garant, and Kenney-Silver on one of the audio commentaries, who say they are not allowed to discuss who performed the song, but say viewers should "Google it" to find the answer.

The film reprises some jokes from the original TV series for the benefit of first-time viewers, an example being Dangle's explanation for wearing shorts on the job, which was also featured in the first episode of the series.

Cast

• Carlos Alazraqui as Deputy James Oswaldo Garcia
• Mary Birdsong as Deputy Cherisha Kimball
• Robert Ben Garant as Deputy Travis Junior
• Kerri Kenney-Silver as Deputy Trudy Wiegel
• Thomas Lennon as Lieutenant Jim Dangle
• Wendi McLendon-Covey as Deputy Clementine Johnson
• Niecy Nash as Deputy Raineesha Williams
• Cedric Yarbrough as Deputy S. Jones
• Nick Swardson as Terry Bernedino
• Michael Ian Black as Ron
• David Koechner as Sheriff of Aspen
• Patton Oswalt as Jeff Spoder
• Danny DeVito (cameo) as District Attorney
• Dwayne Johnson (cameo) as Agent Rick "The Condor" Smith (uncredited)
• Paul Rudd as Ethan
• Paul Reubens as Sir Terrence Bernedino
• Marisa Petroro as Ethan's Girlfriend
• J.P. Manoux as Naked Armemian (uncredited)

Filming schedule

Principal photography was completed in March 2006. The movie was shot in Miami and Southern California.

Reception

The film in its first weekend debuted in 2,702 theaters and earned an estimated gross of $10.4 million, putting it at the fourth position at the box office. The film was in theaters for ten weeks, earning a total of $22,021,262 worldwide.

The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, and the film earned a rotten rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with 35% (59 bad reviews out of 90). Most critics say that fans of the show will appreciate it more than those not familiar with the material.

Home video release

In North America, the DVD was released in two versions on June 19, 2007, an unrated version and the theatrical version. The DVD sold 894,739 units, which gathered a revenue of $16,282,178.

A second unrated cut was released on September 9, 2008.

Sequel

Reno 911!: Miami writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon stated in their book Writing Movies for Fun and Profit, that a sequel to Reno 911!: Miami would not be produced because it did not do well enough at the box office. In the book, a treatment, or extensive outline of what the sequel would have been is included, entitled "Reno 911!: SOS." The plot involved the characters of Reno 911! getting stuck on a deserted island with a serial killer on the loose.