Super Troopers




You boys like Mex-i-co?

Premise: funny, possessing potential. The rest, not so much.

The only thing guarding fifty particular miles of state highway in Vermont happens to be a mere six men. But don't worry, they're not only chronically inept, but proud of it and their pranks, goofy behavior, and general not-serious attitude in which they approach their profession. But they don't like it when their station is threatened to be shut down due to budget constraints. So they determine to blunder--or rather "do their best" to outdo the local police and solve a murder/drug case in order to prove themselves.

Yeah, it's just not very funny at all. The idea is a surprisingly solid one, which makes it all the more frustrating when it's handled so clumsily. And even though Jay Chandrasekhar's direction is hardly much to brag about, it's more the disappointment in the lack of laughs that kills things. Approaching it from a completely neutral standpoint, Super Troopers seems like it should be funnier than it actually turns out to be, so the root of the problem may lie more in the atmosphere that it sets itself in. Resorting to the troopers getting in fights with the cops every twenty minutes doesn't do much to prove that it can be consistently funny otherwise. And there's no need to get started on the plot, which is obviously going to be asinine, but there's harm in mentioning it (or the lack of) either.

The Broken Lizard gang all put on their show and dance, but generally tend to fade into each other, excepting Paul Soter, who gets the "romantic" subplot and does decently with it. Okay, okay, so that part isn't all bad. Kevin Heffernan also invariably sticks out as he's the most outrageously dumb guy of the crew, and it's hard to keep his indirect resemblance to John Candy out of mind. The only other noteworthy aspect of the acting is Brian Cox completely embarrassing himself, but hey, he's a big boy. He can take care of himself.

So aside from a few reluctant chuckles, this is one comedy that most sober minds will find little humor in.



-The Gnome