''Reno 911!: Miami'' is a 2007 American cop

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

based on Comedy Central's ''

Reno 911! ''Reno 911!'' is an American comedy television series airing on Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically '' Cops'', with comic actors playing the police officers. Thomas Lennon, Rober ...

'' and directed by

Robert Ben Garant Robert Ben Garant (born September 14, 1970), credited earlier in his career as Ben Garant, is an American screenwriter, producer, director, actor and comedian. He has a long professional relationship with Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver ...

. Distributed in the USA/Canada by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

and internationally by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

alongside

Comedy Central Films Comedy Central Films was the motion picture production arm of the adult-oriented comedy television cable channel Comedy Central. The studio produces comedy films aimed at a mature audience and based on Comedy Central shows. Many of which were di ...

, the film was released on February 23, 2007 to mixed reviews from critics, most of whom said that fans of the show will appreciate it more than those not familiar with the material.

Plot

The film opens outside a building where

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

are holding hostages and a nuclear bomb. The

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

Sheriff's Department arrives in a helicopter, called in as experts. As the group prepare to deal with the situation, Deputy Travis Junior wakes up and realizes it was a dream; he was sleeping at the wheel and the vehicle he and Lt. Dangle are in crashes. 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", Dangle tells everyone that they have been invited to the American Police Convention in

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

. On arrival, the group finds they're not on the entrant list. Having nowhere to stay, they rent rooms at a motel that seems to be a hub of illegal activities. After partying most of the night, most of the police officers unsuccessfully attempt to seduce one another at the motel, with the males eventually turning to pleasuring themselves to the shock of the ones outside. As everyone recovers from their hangovers, Johnson discovers a tattoo on her breast of a mystery man. The team return to the convention to see if their tickets were found, but discover the building has been the subject of a bio-chemical terrorist attack that has quarantined the police inside. The only city official left outside is assistant deputy mayor Jeff Spoder. The head of National Security asks the Reno Sheriffs Department to provide law enforcement for Miami Beach. A high-ranking

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

agent, Rick "The Condor" Smith, arrives on the scene to give a pep talk, but soon ends up blowing himself up with a grenade he had unpinned during the talk. The team assume the Miami Sheriff's responsibilities, and respond to several emergency calls including an alligator in a swimming pool; street prostitution that leads to ''Reno: 911'' regular Terry who is in town to record an album; and a dead beached whale, which they eventually remove by blowing it up. Jones and Garcia are repeatedly kidnapped by Ethan, a drug lord who tries to act like

Tony Montana Antonio Montana is a fictional character and the protagonist of the 1983 film ''Scarface''. This character is portrayed by Al Pacino in the film and is voiced by André Sogliuzzo in the 2006 video game '' Scarface: The World Is Yours''. Embod ...

from '' Scarface''. Spoder fires the team for their incompetence, but as the team brings a cake to apologize to him they discover Spoder in cahoots with Ethan to create a drug empire. Spoder kills Ethan and escapes with the bio-terrorism antidote. The team chase Spoder, who holds them at gunpoint until Jones and Garcia arrive in a Marine helicopter and Spoder surrenders. Lt. Dangle arrests him, but Wiegel, who had been siting in the helicopter, accidentally blows Spoder up. The antidote is distributed, and the Reno Sheriff's Department are eventually congratulated by their peers for their actions. Dangle accepts a job at the Sheriff's Department at

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

, who had repeatedly turned him down previously. The remaining team are offered a flight back to Reno by Terry, revealed to have a rich father, on his private jet. Back in Reno, Garcia briefs the team on their day's work. Dangle enters, interrupting the briefing, and explains that Aspen has a zero-tolerance policy forbidding homosexual sheriffs. Dangle continues the briefing, and reveals the group have been invited to a convention at

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

Cast

Carlos Alazraqui Carlos Jaime Alazraqui (born July 20, 1962) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, impressionist, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Deputy James Garcia on ''Reno 911!'' and for his voice acting roles. His extensive ...

as Deputy James Oswaldo Garcia *

Mary Birdsong Mary Evans Birdsong (born April 18, 1968) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and singer. She has worked in the theater and voiceover work and is a regular cast member on ''Reno 911!'' Early life Birdsong was born in Florida and grew up ...

as Deputy Cherisha Kimball *

as Deputy Travis Junior *

Kerri Kenney-Silver Kerri Kenney-Silver (born January 20, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and musician. She is best known for starring as Trudy Wiegel on the mockumentary series ''Reno 911!'' and previously for her sketch comedy work on MTV ...

as Deputy Trudy Wiegel *

Thomas Lennon Thomas Patrick Lennon (born August 9, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, director, and novelist. He plays Lieutenant Jim Dangle on the series ''Reno 911!'' Lennon is an accomplished screenwriter of several major st ...

as Lieutenant Jim Dangle *

Wendi McLendon-Covey Wendi McLendon-Covey (née McLendon; born October 10, 1969) is an American actress and comedian. She is known primarily for her work in comedic and improvisational roles. Since 2013, McLendon-Covey has played the role of Beverly Goldberg, a fami ...

as Deputy Clementine Johnson *

Niecy Nash Carol Denise Betts (née Ensley; born February 23, 1970), known professionally as Niecy Nash-Betts (), is an American actress, comedian and television host, best known for her performances on television. Nash hosted the Style Network show ''Cl ...

as Deputy Raineesha Williams *

Cedric Yarbrough Cedric Percelle Yarbrough (born March 20, 1973) is an American actor and comedian who stars in series ''Reno 911!'' as Deputy S. Jones and as Kenneth on the ABC sitcom '' Speechless'', as well as voicing Gerald Fitzgerald on the Netflix comedy Par ...

as Deputy S. Jones *

Nick Swardson Nicholas Roger Swardson (born October 9, 1976) ...

as Terry Bernadino *

Michael Ian Black Michael Ian Black (born Michael Ian Schwartz; August 12, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including ''The State'', ''Viva Variety'', '' Stella'', '' Wet Hot American Summer: Fi ...

as Ron *

David Koechner David Michael Koechner ( ; born August 24, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing roles such as Champ Kind in the ''Anchorman'' films and Todd Packer on NBC's ''The Office''. Koechner first became involved in perf ...

as Sheriff of Aspen *

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

as Jeff Spoder *

Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...

(''cameo'') as District attorney *

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...

(''uncredited cameo'') as Agent Rick "The Condor" Smith *

Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in ...

as Ethan *

Paul Reubens Paul Reubens (; born Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children's entertainer. He is known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s, an ...

as Sir Terrence Bernadino * Marisa Petroro as Ethan's girlfriend *

J. P. Manoux Jean-Paul Christophe Manoux (born June 8, 1969) is an American actor, director and writer. He is perhaps best known for his work on multiple Disney television series. He played S.T.A.N. the android in ''Aaron Stone'', both Curtis the Caveman and ...

(''uncredited'') as Naked Armenian

Production

The film stars

Ben Garant Robert Ben Garant (born September 14, 1970), credited earlier in his career as Ben Garant, is an American screenwriter, producer, director, actor and comedian. He has a long professional relationship with Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver ...

, and

. Certain famed actors make cameos, namely

(who co-starred with Lennon and Kenney in ''

The State A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...

'' and ''

Viva Variety ''Viva Variety'' is an American sketch comedy series that aired on Comedy Central from April 1997 to December 1999. The series satirizes European variety shows. Overview The show stars Thomas Lennon as Meredith Laupin, Kerri Kenney as the former ...

''),

(Comedian and ''

King of Queens ''The King of Queens'' is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, a total of nine seasons and 207 episodes. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who also served as the show ...

'' co-star),

(also one of the film's executive producers),

(playing a different character than he plays on the series),

Nick Swardson Nicholas Roger Swardson (born October 9, 1976) ...

(who appears as his show character "Terry"), and

(professional wrestler The Rock). All members of ''

'' appear in the film. The theme song, "

Police and Thieves "Police and Thieves" ( "Police and Thief") is a reggae song first recorded by the falsetto singer Junior Murvin in 1976. It was covered by the punk band The Clash and included on their self-titled debut album released in 1977. Junior Murvin ve ...

", is performed by

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...

of the

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...

and subsequent theme song "Do Little Things", is performed by " Changing Faces and

Ivan Matias Ivan Matias is an Music of the United States, American singer, songwriter, Producer (music), producer, Arrangement, arranger, Hip hop music, hip hop ghostwriter, and Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur. He is primarily known for writing and producing ...

". 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 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.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place throughout March 2006 in Miami and Southern California.

Reception

Box office

''Reno 911!: Miami'' opened in 2,702 venues and earned $10,273,477 in its debut, ranking fourth in the North American box office and second among the week's new releases. The film ended its run on May 3, 2007 with $20,342,161 domestically and $1,679,101 overseas for a worldwide total of $22,021,262. Based on a $10 million budget, the film was a moderate success.

Critical response

The film received mostly mixed reviews from critics. It holds a 34% rating on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 96 reviews, with an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of 5/10. The site's consensus states: "''Reno 911!'' anarchic brand of comedy loses much in translation to the big screen where it feels slapdash and shallow."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

reports a 47 out of 100 score based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Home media

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.

Cancelled and potential sequel

Writers Garant and Lennon stated in their book ''Writing Movies for Fun and Profit'', that a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

would not be produced because of insufficient box office returns with the first movie. 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.

References

External links

* * * *
UGO interview with Thomas Lennon by Daniel Robert Epstein

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reno 911 Miami 2007 films 2000s English-language films American police films 20th Century Fox films American parody films American LGBT-related films Comedy Central films Films based on television series Films directed by Robert Ben Garant Films produced by Danny DeVito Films set in Miami Films shot in California Films shot in Miami American mockumentary films 2000s parody films 2000s police comedy films Paramount Pictures films 2007 LGBT-related films 2007 directorial debut films 2007 comedy films 2000s American films