Written by: PBF
I can quote the entire film, and yet every time I watch it, I laugh as if I have never heard any of the lines before.
It’s kind of like Police Academy. Only there’s no academy. Also, it’s funny. The plot is simple enough for any drunk or high viewer to grasp. In fact it may enhance the experience to be inebriated. Enhance. Enhance. Seriously though, Super Troopers is probably quite funny when viewed under the influence but it is not necessary. We have a chapter of Vermont State Police that prefer to engage in buffoonery and chicanery rather than take their jobs seriously. This behavior has finally caught up to them as they face being shut down due to budget cuts. The local police department would benefit from this by getting more money. In addition to that the two squads are rivals and the local cops would love it if the highway cops were jobless. Soon a dead woman is found and a truck filled with marijuana is pulled over and each group of cops try to break the case open and thus eliminate their competition.
This film is the most quotable in the Broken Lizard collection, and just one of the most quotable movies in general. Not just lines, but entire scenes of dialogue. The film employs a simple formula: marginal acting, shallow plot, basic direction and hilarious script. The film is just very funny from beginning to end. The odd thing is, I had to watch it more than once before I realized this. After having seen it nearly a hundred times, I am not sure why that is. But I’ll tell you, this film has the best replay value I have ever encountered.
There really is not one person in this that is not funny. Every one of the Lizard, Brian Cox, Daniel von Bargen. One might make the argument that this film is a bunch of comedy sketches pieced together, however the scenes pretty easily transition in to each other and only seem segmented from a scene quoting standpoint. In that respect, I feel that it is quite the opposite. A film that can easily be split up in to sketches, and even (as Puck and I have mentioned a few times) make a pretty funny television program.
Understand that this film (or any of them) is not out to make a dent in the art house universe, and it really just seems to be a vessel in which to facilitate clever bits of dialogue and ridiculous conversations. In that respect, it is a successful version of Mallrats (both films happen to be the second for both Lizard and Smith).
I suppose this really is not so much a review as it is a glowing recommendation for a great comedy. It might seem absurd to some, but this could be a different generation’s Caddyshack or Ghostbusters. It’s also a fine example of how simplicity can succeed against over complication.
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