Reno 911!: Miami

July 11, 2008

Strangers with Candy got it all wrong – they should have taken lessons from the folks at Reno 911!

If you’re gonna bother adapting a Basic Cable TV show to fit on the big screen, you gotta make it FIT on the big screen. The jokes have to be bigger, the cameos have to be bigger, the ASSES have to be bigger. Reno 911!: Miami managed to get all three right.

The jokes…let me start off by talking about that whale. Even though it was just a small part of the whole film, it was easily the funniest. Another funny bit is the sex hotel bit. The camera flashes from window to window, catching the force’s sexcapades. Some, I mean most, are not for those with a weak stomach. A few of the jokes were easily anticipated – the guy in Clementine’s tattoo, for example – but I still laughed my ass off.

The cameos…The Rock promptly blows himself within the first fifteen minutes. There are also appearances by Patton Oswalt (one of my two favorite comics) as the Deputy Mayor, Paul Rudd (!!!) as Ethan the Drug Lord and Paul Reubens as Terry’s dad. (Terry, the roller-skating guy who is always getting caught with a dick in his mouth.) Arguably, these are not “bigger” cameos than Strangers with Candy, but they’re cult stars, so bear with me. Sarah Jessica Parker does not put my ass on the couch to watch a movie.

The asses…Niecy Nash wears a big rubber ass throughout most of the film. It looks very similar to the beached whale – maybe the special effects team made it out of the same stuff? The big fake ass in a thong is not something that would fly on regular old Basic Cable – in fact, most of the film wouldn’t fly on Basic Cable. The asses rule holds true for another cable to Big Screen ass-centric hit – South Park. Asses of Fire!

I watched a lot of The State back in college – I think it was the last good thing that MTV put on the air. iTunes is selling downloads, but it’s more likely that I’ll catch it piecemeal on YouTube. $240 worth of pudding!

Fucking hilarious.