Premise - A group of Vermont State Troopers jobs are hanging in the balance because of a lack of funds. Solving a big crime would help their predicament, but can they overcome the local police and their own stupidity? The first ten minutes of Super Troopers contains some of the funniest stuff I have ever seen in a movie. It's flat out bust-a-gut hilarious and I had to take a breather to get my composure back before continuing with the film. It's a shame then that the quality of laughs doesn't continue throughout the rest of the film. Sure there is some really funny stuff peppered throughout, but it just isn't consistent enough. I was reminded a lot of Police Academy during the film. A group of goofy troopers faces the closure of their station. If they can outsmart the local police and solve the case they can save the day. Goofing off and having sex in the process. Yes, the story certainly bears some similarities. Although whilst Police Academy is (in my mind) one of the greatest comedies ever made, Super Troopers is ultimately too patchy to be compared to Police Academy. The plot is nonsense of course, but that's not really that important in this type of film. The quality of the jokes is what really matters. The humour is low brow and consists mostly of the troopers trying to 'get' various motorists in candid camera style set ups. Freaking out stoned college kids and trying to say 'meow' (it's funnier than it sounds, trust me) as many times as possible are couple of examples of what to expect. State Troopers comes over as a series of comedy sketches and not as an all encompassed movie. In-fact I hear that a tv show of the movie is in the pipeline and perhaps that's where these characters would feel more at home. The creative team behind the film call themselves the 'Broken LIzard' group. I guess they're a kind of comedy troupe much like Canada's 'Kids In The Hall'. The team writes, directs (through Jay Chandrasekhar) and stars in the film. They all work well together and clearly have an affinity with the material. Nice to see the original Hannibal Lecktor Brian Cox showing up and he gets his fair share of the laughs. After checking IMDB it would seem he was born just down the road from me in Dundee, a local boy! Daniel Von Bargen plays the local police chief and seems to be using the MIlitary School Commandant he plays in 'Malcolm In The Middle' as a basis for the part. Marisa Coughlan proves that there is life after 'Freddy Got Fingered' as the love interest. Director Jay Chandrasekhar previously worked as a set production assistant on 'Chasing Amy' and his work here is solid if nothing outstanding. The film does have a similar style of humour to Kevin Smith's films, but is probably more of a Dogma than a Clerks. Super Troopers is a very funny film that is guilty of being too much like many comedy sketches bolted together. It does however escape falling into the all too common trap of comedy films and keeps the laughs going right up until the end credits. Too many comedies abandon the chuckles in favour of tying up the loose plot threads, Super Troopers manages to tie everything up and keep the audience amused at the same time. Although you might argue that there wasn't much of a plot to tie up.

6/10 for Super Troopers. Poster Quote - Who's laughing meow?