Reno 911!

I have seen the Reno 911! Television series once or twice. The television program is a farce of the Cops genre, where a group of bumbling keystone cops in Reno are followed around by a camera crew. Like Cops, the television program is more a series of incidents, which are presented as sketches. Even though there are common themes and threads that tie the skits together, they get into some decent comedy at times. The television show is not one I try to catch, but I have had a laugh or two from this program.

The movie was co-written by one of the cast members, Lt Dangle, who is a Lieutenant who wears shorts instead of pants...the shorts that people wore in the 70s...the kind that are so tight that people can tell your religion. The movie lasts about 84 minutes too long (which is the length of the movie). The plot in this movie goes beyond a few zany skits, taking a set of improbable circumstances and cramming them together to make a ridiculous story. Even as a farce, this movie takes things to far. The characters of Reno 911! decide to attend a National Police Convention in Florida. They are not on the list for the convention, so they end up staying at a seedy motel and sleeping late. When they get to the convention center, the building is covered in a giant sheet of plastic...having been attacked with a chemical agent by a terrorist organization. Our unlikely group of heroes is called upon to police the community and ultimately find the antidote for all of the trapped police officers. They stumble their way through finally solving the case. The characters are one dimensional, the dialogue is bland and the comic relief is cheap and tawdry. The lack of focus makes this film boring at times and tedious at others.

The casting was pretty much done when the television series was created. The same cast members from the television series make up the main cast members in the movie. Nick Swardson plays a somewhat interesting character, Terry Bernedino, who is an effete rollerskating male prostitute that follows the police out to Florida. His father, played by Pee Wee Herman (or is that Paul Rueben) squeezes in a cameo appearance at the end of the film. Thomas Lennon plays Lt Dangle who also has, shall we say "soft tendencies." Lennon's character is just so overdone that it isn't funny. His acting really does not impress me. Ben Garant is Deputy Travis Junior, Kerri Kenney-Silver fills the role of Deputy Trudy Wiegel, Cedric Yarbrough plays Deputy Jones, Deputy James Garcia is played by Carlos Alazraqui,Wendi McLendon-Covey is Deputy Clementine Johnson, Niecy Nash plays Deputy Raineesha Williams (who shows way to much of her hindquarters), Mary Birdsong is Deputy Cherisha Kimball. The cast members have very little to work with. Their characters are so one dimensional that it is hard to tell if any of them have talent. As a lot, I thought they were weak. The acting was some of the worst I can recall seeing.

Read More About Reno 911: Miami