2008 Woodie Awards
"Reno 911!: Miami": Protects show's image and serves up laughs to hopeful movie-goers
Ryan O'Connell
Issue date: 2/28/07 Section: Entertainment
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Honestly, I can't remember the last time I saw a movie on its opening night. It's been bugging me all weekend and the closest thing I can think of is when I saw "Return of the King", which may or may not have happened the day it opened. I'm not sure.
So going to see "Reno 911!: Miami" Friday night was a first for me and it couldn't have been for a better movie. I had read a review earlier in the day that said watching the movie, based on the incredible Comedy Central series which is about to start its fourth season on April 1, was like watching three episodes of the show back to back. This was right on the money. Wisely, the writers of the movie, Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant, and Kerri Kenney-Silver, who play Reno Sheriff Deputies Lt. Jim Dangle, Travis Junior, and Trudy Weigel, respectively, only casually flirt with a plot, and instead fuel the movie with numerous sight gags and top notch one-liners. Add an amazing cameo by The Rock and there's really no way this movie can do wrong.
Largely, the movie is everything you would expect of it, and that is just fine. Sure, there are a few hiccups here and there, such as the choice of characters highlighted and those pushed into the background, and the frequency of unbearably predictable moments that threaten the movie. But I left the theater thinking that I couldn't wait to see it again. Similar to movies like "Anchorman", "Super Troopers", and the "Goonies", "Reno 911!: Miami" will only get better with age. If it were wine, it'd be a cheap white wine. Nothing that costs too much, but all in all, it'll get the job done. And it goes well with chicken and fish.
Here are three reasons why you shouldn't wait to see this movie:
1.) Lt. Jim Dangle. Thomas Lennon's short-shorts wearing Sheriff is perhaps one of the best characters to appear in mainstream comedy in recent years, finishing only behind Dwight from "The Office" and maybe Danny Bonaduce from "Breaking Bonaduce". Throughout the movie, he dominates every scene he's in and when he's not around, you're anxious for him to return. In a movie jam-packed with electric one-liners, Dangle delivers the majority of them with an expert comic delivery and whip-cracking timing. For the past two Halloweens I have joked about dressing up like Dangle, and after watching this movie, there is little doubt that I'll be showing some leg next year - weather-permitting, of course.
So going to see "Reno 911!: Miami" Friday night was a first for me and it couldn't have been for a better movie. I had read a review earlier in the day that said watching the movie, based on the incredible Comedy Central series which is about to start its fourth season on April 1, was like watching three episodes of the show back to back. This was right on the money. Wisely, the writers of the movie, Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant, and Kerri Kenney-Silver, who play Reno Sheriff Deputies Lt. Jim Dangle, Travis Junior, and Trudy Weigel, respectively, only casually flirt with a plot, and instead fuel the movie with numerous sight gags and top notch one-liners. Add an amazing cameo by The Rock and there's really no way this movie can do wrong.
Largely, the movie is everything you would expect of it, and that is just fine. Sure, there are a few hiccups here and there, such as the choice of characters highlighted and those pushed into the background, and the frequency of unbearably predictable moments that threaten the movie. But I left the theater thinking that I couldn't wait to see it again. Similar to movies like "Anchorman", "Super Troopers", and the "Goonies", "Reno 911!: Miami" will only get better with age. If it were wine, it'd be a cheap white wine. Nothing that costs too much, but all in all, it'll get the job done. And it goes well with chicken and fish.
Here are three reasons why you shouldn't wait to see this movie:
1.) Lt. Jim Dangle. Thomas Lennon's short-shorts wearing Sheriff is perhaps one of the best characters to appear in mainstream comedy in recent years, finishing only behind Dwight from "The Office" and maybe Danny Bonaduce from "Breaking Bonaduce". Throughout the movie, he dominates every scene he's in and when he's not around, you're anxious for him to return. In a movie jam-packed with electric one-liners, Dangle delivers the majority of them with an expert comic delivery and whip-cracking timing. For the past two Halloweens I have joked about dressing up like Dangle, and after watching this movie, there is little doubt that I'll be showing some leg next year - weather-permitting, of course.
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