Reno laughs at ‘Reno 911!’

J. Patrick Coolican, Las Vegas Sun

Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007 | 6:53 a.m.

There are fortuitous events in life, like a kid watching Reggie Jackson hit a Yankee Stadium home run at his first ball game, or being in Vermont for the weekend of Phish's final shows.

And then there is finding oneself in Reno on Friday, the day that "Reno 911!: Miami" opened in theaters.

The movie is based on the Comedy Central show, a brutal satire of "Cops" and similar bad-guy reality offerings, where police officers are honest and competent and always right.

Not so with the faux-Reno cops, who are clumsy and stupid, a ragtag bunch led by a badly closeted gay lieutenant whose shorts are painfully short.

It's an unflattering depiction of the real Reno and its police force.

As one of the cops says on screen, "It's a lot like Mayberry on the TV, except everybody is on crystal meth and prostitution is legal."

About 20 people showed up for the 12:20 p.m. showing at the Century Riverside 12 downtown - a downtown, we might add, undergoing quite a revitalization, if you believe the hype.

There was ample laughter, and only two people left during the show - seemed to be a dad who realized the material wasn't appropriate (lots of self-pleasuring humor) for his son.

Here's the plot: Idiot cops - how often is a reporter allowed to use that phrase? - get invited to a national police convention in Miami, and they go, by bus.

Humor happens.

Some highlights: An officer falls asleep at the wheel and hits a portable toilet; the whole lot of them try to capture an escaped chicken, with limited success; they routinely fire off rounds without meaning to; they try to move a beached whale.

And, the locals have no idea where Reno is.

"There is a Reno," one officer says. "We have an airport."

Outside the theater, in the real Reno, the city and the police department have taken this comedic beating with good humor.

"Speaking on behalf of the city of Reno, we wish them the best of luck," Chris Good, a spokesman, said.

Steve Frady, a Reno police spokesman, said the TV show "is quite different than the reality of Reno law enforcement."

The department was invited to participate in the film's premiere, but declined. The show is funny, yes, but dignity is worth preserving.

The TV show is shot in Southern California, not Reno, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal's film critic, Forrest Hartman.

What does it mean for the city and its identity?

Not much, Hartman said, perhaps in denial. He conceded, however, that "it does a lot for the city's name recognition." He said he often will call around the country for his film reporting, and people will say, "Oh yeah, Reno, like 'Reno 911!' "