Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

I know that MySpace hosted one of their multi-city Black Carpet screenings earlier tonight for RENO 911! MIAMI, and I expect we'll get quite a few reactions sent to us. I liked this first one, though:

Hey Moriarty,

Never done this before, so I'll send this to you and to Harry. If it's useful but there's someone else to whom I should send it, please let me know.

Just got back from a screening of the Reno 911 movie at the Fox studio lot... Thought I'd give you guys a few quick thoughts before I drop off to sleep. I should make it clear first that I am at best a casual fan of the T.V. show. I've watched it from time to time, but usually just little segments that my Tivo picks up when it's taping episodes of the Daily Show. I was a big fan of "The State" back in the day, so I guess I was probably pre-disposed to enjoy this movie. That said, it's incredibly funny; the laughs are pretty frontloaded to the first half of the movie, but it's short and enjoyable throughout.

The setup is mercifully brief: each of the characters gets a short and effective introduction for the benefit of the unititiated. Within a few minutes the story moves from Reno to Miami and, shortly thereafter, hilarity (and wackiness!) begins to ensue. There are some very clever scenes early on that play on the twisted (and fairly complicated) relationships between each of the members of the cast. This is where both the T.V. show and the film shine. The broad physical comedy, the exaggerated sex jokes that take advantage of the "R" rating....they're all here. It's all a little hit and miss, but the interaction between each of the members of the Reno police department is golden. The biggest laughs in the movie come from the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) exchanges between the core cast members who've been working together for several years now. That may sound odd coming from a show that is usually anything but subtle, but that's what worked for me.

The other thing that made this movie work for me was (were?) the excellent cameos. There are some really great moments here- especially from Paul Rudd, The Rock, and the "Stella" boys (David Wain, Michael Showalter, and Michael Ian Black). Everyone seems to be having a lot of fun, and it's pretty contagious; the movie is less than 90 minutes by my count (and it seemed to be over even quicker than that), but there aren't very many dead moments, and not more than a few jokes that fall flat.

I won't spoil any of the gags in the movie (I'd have to be a real dick to ruin some of the better moments)... but there is more than enough here to make it worth your money. I would recommend not paying too much attention to the commercials for the film, as they come way too close to spoiling some of the best laughs. All told, I only have a few minor complaints: The first half is quite a bit funnier than the second half (although that's probably just because the first half is really incredibly funny). Also, the story is pretty throw-away. The ending is extremely predictable, and the whole thing is obviously designed just to allow for a fresh take on the T.V. show's schtick. If it didn't work so damn well, it would be a much larger problem. Since the writing is funny and sharp and the cast clicks so well together, it's not hard to over look some of these minor problems.

The bottom line is that I went in not expecting much and I laughed much harder than I thought I would. I came away feeling like I might need to start watching the T.V. show more often. But we'll see. My tivo is overworked as it is.

If you use this, call me Chess Piece Face.