Barely A Review: RENO 911!: MIAMI

For the first few years it was on the air I was a big fan of "Reno 911!" the TV series. Yeah, it's mainly just a spoof of "Cops" but the cast is by in large terrific and the strange sense of humor is right up my alley. The 4th season which aired last summer seemed a bit off to me and now I think I know why. The cast and crew of the show were saving the good stuff for their movie, RENO 911!: MIAMI.

The plot of RENO 911!: MIAMI finds all 8 officers attending a police convention in Miami Beach (Shades of the 5th volume in the POLICE ACADEMY saga?). When the convention becomes victim to a terrorist plot it is up to Reno's finest to patrol the city and find out who is behind the attack.

Of course the plot is basically meaningless. The film's one true fault is actually trying to construct a plot. Where this film scores is with its gags. Many of the gags, particularly a great one involving a motel masturbate-athon, are too blue for basic cable. There are also a fair share of cameos in the film, some work and some don't, but overall the ones that do work are the ones you will remember after the movie ends.

As a fan of Deputy Jones or "Jonesy," who is always played nicely by Cedric Yarbrough, I was sad to see him not receive as much face-time as some of the other cast members. But when he gets the spotlight he comes through and he gets to recite the line "You've been making love with Richard Petty?" so he does have his moments.

I suppose the big question is will this film work if you have never seen the TV show. Honestly, I don't know. These aren't the deepest characters so it's not like you need to have a long backstory to figure out which officer is the slut, which is the dyke, and which is the redneck. So go see it. If you like it great, if you hate it I don't care. None of you know where I live anyway.