Super Troopers is a brilliantly stupid low-budget comedy that Fox Searchlight scooped up for $3 million after a boffo midnight screening at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.  It’s a no frills independent flick you’d ordinarily see at the local art house, but, because Fox shelled out so much cash for it, they’ve decided to cram it an as many theatres as they can, in an attempt to recoup as much of their investment as possible in just one weekend.

It’s tough to say why Fox didn’t release the film during the first three quarters of 2001, but with its references to “Afghanistanimation” and a plot revolving around a drug-peddling pro-Taliban monkey , nobody is at all surprised the release was delayed after the 9/11 attacks.  Not that anyone overly sensitive to the whole terrorism thing could really be offended by a film made by a low-rent, frat house Monty Python about cops who chug maple syrup.

The action in Troopers centers around a small group of Vermont State Police who patrol a 50-mile stretch of highway near the Canadian border.  Their days consist of playing mind fuck games with speeders and stoners, while contending with the local law enforcement who can’t stand their zany antics (like trying to see how many times you can say “meow” to someone you’ve just pulled over).  With their budget about to be slashed by the maniacal Governor (played by Lynda Carter), they have to prove their worth to stop the department from being shut down.

Trooopers stars and was written by five Colgate graduates (they go by the name Broken Lizard) who made a cheap-o 1996 film called Puddle Cruiser that put them on the map.  It looks like they had a lot of fun making this movie, and that makes it so much more fun to watch.  They don’t take anything seriously, they know they’re not the greatest actors, and they don’t care, which is pretty refreshing (it’d be nice to see Nic Cage, Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner try the same thing).

1:44 –

for language, sexual content and drug use