Two out of Five stars
Running time: 84 mins

Patchy, but occasionally hilarious comedy, enlivened by likeable characters and a commendably high gag rate, even if they don't always work.

What's it all about?
Based on the popular Reno 911! US TV show (basically a documentary-style spoof of Cops), Reno 911!: Miami is a stupid title for a defiantly stupid movie. Eight loveable losers from the Reno Police Department (including co-creators Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant and Kerri Kenney-Silver) travel to Florida for a national police conference, only to find that they're not allowed in when they get there.

However, when a bio-terrorist attack leaves the nation's cops quarantined in the convention centre, the Reno force unexpectedly become Miami's only active police officers, so they're put in charge of patrolling Miami Beach. Will they be able to catch the bad guys, or will they end up doing more damage to Miami than the terrorists themselves?

The Good
The filmmakers employ a scattergun approach to the jokes, clearly figuring that if they fire off enough of them, some of them are bound to hit their targets. It's a tactic that pays off – even if several of the jokes fall flat, you're never too far away from one that works.

The cast are obviously intimately familiar with their characters and the performances are both likeable and funny as a result. There are also a couple of amusing cameos, most notably by The Rock (an inspired throwaway gag) and Paul Rudd, doing a hilariously awful Scarface impression.

The Bad
The filmmakers clearly relish the opportunity to do the sort of jokes (mostly sex and nudity related) that they can't do on TV, but this backfires a little because, perversely, these jokes detract from the film's overall sweetness. That said, there's an amusingly gratuitous sequence set on a nudist beach that works well.

Worth seeing?
In short, this is a watchable Friday night comedy, providing you don't mind switching off your brain and aren't expecting an actual plot or anything.