“I am all that is Man!” —Thorny
Today’s quick review: Super Troopers. Thorny (Jay Chandrasekhar), Mac (Steve Lemme), Foster (Paul Soter), Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske), and Farva (Kevin Heffernan) are Vermont state troopers who spend their days fooling around and brawling with the local police. But when their captain (Brian Cox) informs them that their station will be shut down if they don’t get their act together, they must break up a drug smuggling operation to save their jobs.
Super Troopers is a raucous comedy that shows the irresponsible side of police work. Super Troopers has a few great scenes, a decent plot, and a cast that play off each other well. The humor takes an indirect approach, presenting overtly funny situations but rarely relying on a single punchline to sell them. As such, Super Troopers sacrifices some of the impact of a well-told joke to build up a comedic world where all of the movie’s jokes feel amusing and natural.
Super Troopers excels at a particular form of humor that includes practical jokes, ad hoc competitions, and general horsing around. The troopers have nothing better to do than abuse their authority, play pranks on potheads, and haze the new rookie, and they dive into these activities with unusual gusto. Most of the movie’s charm comes from seeing just what kind of antics the troopers can come up with when they apply themselves.
However, the humor is not for everyone. How much you enjoy the movie will depend heavily on how much you enjoy shenanigans as a source of humor; neither the plot nor the characters are enough to give the movie much depth. Those who dislike raunchy comedies may also be less than impressed. But if you are in the mood for a wild, quotable, and fairly well-executed comedy, give Super Troopers a try.
7.1 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for reckless fun.