Reno 911!: Miami

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Amiably goofy characters

American comedy series 'Reno 911!' is a parody of the long-running reality television show 'Cops'. In 'Cops', camera crews work with police units to follow the activities of officers on the street; for 'Reno 911!, the fictional Reno Sheriff's Department are filmed during the course of their "duties". 'Reno 911!: Miami' tries extending the spoof concept into a feature-length film, with very mixed results.

Led by their boss, Lt Jim Dangle (Lennon) in his oh-so-snug non-regulation shorts, the rag-tag team of Reno cops take off to Miami Beach for a police convention - only to discover that their names are not on the list of delegates. Due to a bizarre series of events, involving a bioterrorist attack, these assorted misfits are the only people left to patrol the streets. Poor Miami.

While dealing with their everyday dysfunctions - unrequited attractions, racism, interdepartmental romances and promiscuity - they must also cope with a rotting whale corpse on the beach, a mysterious drug dealer who keeps talking about Mr Big and figure out whose face got tattooed on the chest of Deputy Clementine Johnson (McLendon-Covey) while she was drunk.

Shot on a minuscule budget (and it shows, in a bad way), 'Reno 911!: Miami' is little more than a selection of theoretically funny set pieces, loosely - very loosely - strung together. While there are plenty of amiably goofy characters, the mainly improvised script is more suited to the small screen and a shorter running time. Stretched over 84 minutes, jokes quickly go stale and start to repeat. There are only so many humiliating sexual escapades and episodes of criminal incompetence you can watch at one sitting. Although pointless, juvenile and just plain disgusting in places, 'Reno 911!: Miami' will undoubtedly find its own audience.

Caroline Hennessy