Reno 911 Miami Movie - Reno 911 Miami Movie Trailer

"Reno 911 Miami"
"Reno 911 Miami Trailer" - First Look
"Reno 911 Miami" - In Theaters February 23, 2007

Wild About Movies received this e-mail from the "Reno Sheriff's Department, January 24, 2007

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press,

On behalf of the Reno Sheriff’s Department, we would like to address the film entitled "Reno 911 Miami." THIS FILM IS NOT ENDORSED IN ANY WAY BY THE RENO SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT.

We were told by the good people (pronounced: dirty liars) at Twentieth Century Fox that the documentary film about our trip to the National Police Convention in Miami Beach would be called: American Heroes: South Beach Edition.

Turns out this was classic Hollywood bullshit. The film that has been made from the footage of us is an outrageous web of lies. The brave men and women of the Reno Sheriff’s Department have been edited together in a way that makes us look like we’re brain damaged. (We, aren’t!)

YES, there were some unfortunate events that took place during our time in Miami. Yes, people got hurt. Yes, property got destroyed. And yes, one nude person and some passers-by got parts of an exploded narwhale on them.

But... the truth is: we also did a lot of good. And, none of us is sure it was really a narwhale. It might have been a sperm whale, or some other kind of whale.

We would also like to address the title of the film.

"Reno 911 Miami"

WTF? That must be the stupidest title in the history of cinema. That’s like calling something Las Vegas Justice Minneapolis. Or Philadelphia Emergency St. Louis. IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE.

If you understand the title, please call us, because we do not.

We urge you to tell the Fox and Twentieth Century Fox people to STOP THE LIES.

Your servant,

Lt. Jim Dangle, Reno Sheriff’s Department. Reno NV.

STARRING: Thomas Lennon, Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney, Cedric Yarbrough, Carlos Alazraqui, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Niecy Nash, Mary Birdsong, Paul Rudd, Nick Swardson
DIRECTOR: Ben Garant
STUDIO: 20th Century Fox
RATING: R (For sexual content, nudity, crude humor, language and drug use)

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Wild About Movies Grade: A-

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"Reno 911 Miami"
Behind The Scenes

"RENO 911 Movie"....BEGINNINGS

“Reno 911 Movie” co-stars-writers-executive producers Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon, and Kerri Kenney-Silver first met in college, where they created a comedy troupe they called The State. According to Garant, who also directs "RENO 911 MIAMI" THE MOVIE," it was not an obvious match. “Kerri was very Westport, Tom wore suits, cowboy boots and an eye patch – and I was scared of both of them. Somehow, we all ended up in a comedy troupe, and for some reason we all took it really seriously.”

In the mid-1990s, the trio created a popular sketch comedy series, named for their troupe, on MTV. Following that came the Comedy Central series “Viva Variety,” which ran for three seasons.

After wrapping up work on “Viva Variety,” development began on what would become “Reno 911 Movie.” Initially, Lennon and Garant had envisioned the series as another sketch comedy. But the first part of the process in bringing a series to air – a network table reading – didn’t go well. “We were canceled at the table read,” Lennon recalls. “I’m not sure that’s happened before.”

Picking up the pieces, Garant, Lennon and Kenney-Silver came up with another idea: a parody of the popular reality series “Cops.” “‘Cops’ was a huge hit for the network, so we thought it would be a fun thing to parody,” says Kenney-Silver. The result was a hilarious take on the traditional cop drama, with soap opera-like twists and turns.

Garant, Lennon and Kenney-Silver decided to set the show in Reno, which Lennon describes as a “small town with a big-city vibe.”

“It’s the place where dreams fade and hope diminishes,” he continues. “It has a sense of grayness and a sense of desperation. It’s Vegas’ ugly step-child.” But Kenney-Silver insists that the locale was chosen for more practical considerations. “The word ‘Reno’ is nice and short and it looks good on a hat. And it’s easy to read for people who can’t read well.”

It was an inspired idea, and Lennon, Garant and Silver went to work, shooting and editing the pilot in only a few weeks.

It then sat on the shelf for two years.

Finally, in 2003, Comedy Central picked up the series, which will soon begin production on its fifth season – and which, of course, has now been turned into a full-length motion picture produced by not one, but two major studios.

“Reno 911 Movie.” HOW IT BECAME A MOVIE

“Reno 911 Movie,” with its confluence of dueling cities and weird punctuation, may be the stupidest title in movie history. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t the product of market research, filmmaker/corporate brainstorming – or any kind of creative thinking. Robert Ben Garant explains: “I’m not positive, but I think I came up with the title. I thought it was the dumbest title I’ve ever heard. In fact, we all thought it was so dumb, that we had to get it up on a billboard.

“One day,” Lennon recalls, “Ben said, ‘We should call the movie “Reno 911 Movie," and we [the rest of the cast] said, ‘Ha, ha, funny.’ And that’s the most we ever talked about it.”

“We almost used ‘Reno 911!: Las Vegas’, but that was overthinking it a bit,” Garant adds.

A critical piece of punctuation – an exclamation point – has followed the word “Reno” in the title since the show’s inception, and Garant, Lennon and Kenney-Silver made sure it took its rightful place in the expanded film moniker. “That punctuation also really looks good on a hat,” Garant points out, reinforcing the filmmakers’ obsession with head coverings.

Looking beyond the title’s stupidity factor, the choice of Miami as the film’s principal location serves an important creative purpose. In Miami, the Reno officers are completely out of their element. This “fish-out-of-water” theme ramps up the comic opportunities while providing a narrative through-line not present in the series. “In Reno, they’re kind of cool; they’re rock stars,” says Kenney-Silver. “But in Miami, they look really small; they’re totally out of place.”
“The Reno officers are overwhelmed by Miami’s wholesomeness,” adds Carlos Alazraqui, who portrays Officer James Garcia. “They’re surrounded by healthy-looking people, an ocean, clean air – none of which are found in Reno.”

The new locale certainly sets “Reno 911 Movie,” apart from the series, as does the movie’s scale, production values, and un-pixilated nudity. (“We have a lot of naked boobs in the film,” says Garant. “A lot of boobs.”)

“The film is ‘Reno:911!’ on steroids!” exclaims Alazraqui. “It has more beautiful women, more physical stuff, nicer uniforms, bigger guest stars, better trailers, and more discos.

But the filmmakers insist that the “bigger/better/more!” (note the exclamation point) aspects of the production are secondary to their intention of sticking close to what audiences love about the show. Says Kenney-Silver: “We wanted the movie to be just like the series because we figured people love these characters as they are. We didn’t want to do a ‘movie version’ of them.”

Equally important, says Lennon, is the fact that a familiarity with the series isn’t necessary to enjoy the movie. “Anything that needs to be established about these characters can be figured out within a minute into the film. I mean, look at my character, Lt. Dangle: He wears a ridiculous uniform, he has highlights in his hair, and he’s armed. We go from there.”

No cast member was more surprised to see the series become a major motion picture, than was Niecy Nash, who portrays Officer Raineesha Williams. “The show was popular, but in an underground kind of way,” she says. “We were having a great time doing the series; it didn’t feel like work. And then came the idea of a studio feature based on the show. My reaction was, ‘What????'

Nash, like all the actors, came to relish the opportunity of bringing “Reno: 911!” to the big-screen. And she, like the others, had created her character from scratch at the series’ onset. “Raineesha Williams is an amalgamation of many women I’ve known,” she explains. “You know – the ones who wear too much makeup, and who have extra attitude on the side. She’s no-nonsense, in your face, a little bit spicy, and supremely well-coiffed. And in the movie, you get to see a lot more of Williams, courtesy of a ‘booty’ prosthetic.” (More later on that very “special effect.”)

Wendi McLendon-Covey, who plays Deputy Clementine Johnson, a former showgirl, magician’s assistant, girl-about-town and party-lady, calls the Reno gang “the worst hall monitors or crossing-guards in the world.” Moreover, her character is, in Miami, even more out-there with her unique brand of sexiness. But there’s more to Clemmie than a big pair…of guns. “In a way, Clemmie is like everybody’s weird aunt, who just breezes into town and breezes back out,” says McLendon-Covey.

Another over-sexed member of the Reno law-enforcement team is Deputy S. Jones, played by Cedric Yarbrough. “Jones is there for one thing – and one thing only – and it rhymes with ‘spoon-tang,” says the poetic-waxing actor.

Mary Birdsong, who portrays Deputy Cherisa Kimball, is the newest member of the “Reno 911!” troupe, having joined the cast for the series’ third season. She says her work on the show provided, among other things, great groundwork for the movie. “I’ve been rehearsing for this film for two seasons,” she notes. “That’s a rare opportunity for preparation.” And how did she find the character? “I found Kimball in a ditch with five dollars in her pocket and a lot of dreams,” she explains.

PRODUCTION: HIGH-DEF MUSTACHES, BOOTY – AND ‘DANGLING’ IN SHORT-SHORTS

Before shooting began on RENO 911!: MIAMI, the filmmakers met with fourteen Miami law enforcement agencies – including Miami Police, Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue, the Coast Guard, Harbor Patrol, Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency – to obtain the necessary permits and access to various locations. “These guys were all in one room at the same time when we met with them,” Garant remembers. “We had to pitch our jokes to about twenty heavily-armed men. Luckily most of them were fans.”

Director Garant and the rest of the team were delighted to shoot the film in high-definition video – an upgrade from the series’ standard definition video. But with HD came significant challenges, including dealing with Lt. Dangle’s facial hair. For the show, the usually-clean-shaven Lennon uses a stick-on mustache, but for the movie, it’s all him. Putting aside the aesthetic realism of using his own whiskers, Lennon notes their cost-savings benefits. “We saved a fortune in not using fake mustaches,” he notes. “Those things cost $100 apiece.” (For the record, Garant says he’s always used his own mustache.)

The film’s most impressive effect – surpassing even a 30-foot-long beached whale made of wood and neoprene – is Raineesha Williams’ enormous posterior, a specially created prosthetic that impressed all those who experienced its glory. “It was the most expensive prop, by far,” says Garant. “When Niecy modeled it for us, a group of people who were just standing around started poking it and turning it in the light. They had no idea it was a fake butt. And when we told one of our real-life police escorts the booty was fake, it was like telling a child there was no Santa Claus. It just crushed him. We all felt very proud of that butt.”

Adds Thomas Lennon: “If even a snapshot of that booty were to make it into a prison, there would be a situation that would…well, let’s just say you’d have to go way beyond lockdown.”

During beach patrol duty with the booty-licious Williams, Kerri Kenney-Silver’s Trudy Wiegel sports some all-too-revealing “granny” panties and a scoliosis bra. “Trudy has some posture problems, and that’s where her special bra comes in,” says Kenney-Silver. “And the granny panties protect her from other people’s body parts that could have touched the suit before she purchased it.”

Then there’s Lennon’s Dangle, who lets it all hang out with his short-shorts, which he’s worn since the show’s pilot episode. In high-definition, it was difficult to keep Dangle from, well, dangling. “The image is so clear,” says Lennon, that I might as well not be wearing any pants. Every minute I’m in the shorts, it’s a struggle. The shorts seemed like a funny idea in 1999, but now I’m stuck with them.”

Lennon insists that, possibly due to the shorts, Dangle is the most popular character with the legions of “Reno 911!” fans. “You can authenticate that anywhere, including the Internet,” he insists. “The rest of the cast is very talented, popular and wonderful. I won’t rank them in order of popularity, but I definitely am in the number-one position. Really – it’s on the Internet.”