USA: Reno's finest take Miami by storm in the big-screen version of the Comedy Central hit show "Reno: 911!"

Reno's finest come out in full force for their latest movie, "Reno 911!: Miami," inspired by the long running sketch comedy show of almost the same name, save "Miami," which airs on the Comedy Central network. The show, "Reno 911!," is a satire of an inept yet good-hearted police force fighting crime and setting fine examples for citizens in the gambling hotspot of Reno, Nevada. "The test to be a police officer at the Reno Sheriff's Department, they've really slacked off the past few years, it's three pushups, you have to name a president, current or past," says actor Ben Garant, in character as Deputy Travis Junior of the Reno Sheriff's Department. Set mostly in Miami, the "Reno 911!" movie is a cinéma vérité account of the Reno Sheriff's Department's brief visit to Florida for a nation-wide police convention. With a computer glitch preventing them from entering the police gathering, the troops decide to party it up Miami-style with no responsibilities, that is until a bio-terrorist attack forces a complete lockdown of the convention centre, with all of Miami's finest locked inside. As a result, the Reno Sheriff's department is put in charge of Miami -- answering 911 calls, patrolling its streets, blowing up rotting whale carcasses on its pristine beaches. The trying experience forced the group to remember why they took their posts in the first place. "I came to the Sheriff's Department for two reasons, because I wanted to be a hero that the people of Nevada could look up to every day, and because they took away my real estate license," says actor Thomas Lennon, in character as Lieutenant Jim Dangle of the Reno Sheriff's Department. "I personally wanted to be filmed running in slow motion like Angie Dickinson," says actress Wendi McLendon-Covey, in character as Deputy Clementine Johnson of the Reno Sheriff's Department. While sticking to television with a "Cops" esque show for years has been quite fun for all involved, the Reno PD decided it was time to step it up one more notch by going big budget on the big screen. But all that publicity has to come at a price, which the troops learned when they first saw the movie of their police work -- they personally feel they have been misrepresented in the film as know-nothing idiots. Deputy Raineesha Williams was kind enough to share with Reuters her thoughts on how the movie should have been done. "Don't even get me started on that. Ok, I learned a fancy Hollywood term -- editing. I have a cousin who has all that little equipment, Ok, here you go. I would start off, I would get that guy who does all those movies like 'one movie, seven cops, here they come.' Then enter the dancing girls, make it into a video, because the way you start the movie, that is what is going to determine if it's going to be a success," says actress Niecy Nash in character as Deputy Raineesha Williams of the Reno Sheriff's Department. But perhaps the question viewers would most like answered is not about the team's work ethic or what they would have or wouldn't have done looking back on the film, but rather, what's with that guy's shorts? "There's a very sexy look to these, but that's not why I wear them, that is absolutely not why I wear them. I wear them because they give me the fighting power of Mikhail Baryshnikov combined with a hooded cobra," says actor Thomas Lennon, in character as Lieutenant Jim Dangle of the Reno Sheriff's Department. "Reno 911!: Miami" opened in theatres February 23.

ITN Source | February 28, 2007

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