Film

Super Troopers

Name: Super Troopers
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Released: 2001
Cast: Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske

Comedy
Crime
Light-hearted

Five incompetent Vermont state troopers stumble into a drug investigation they're spectacularly unqualified to handle. It's loud, absurdist, and built on the chemistry of friends who clearly adore making each other laugh. For people who think cop comedies should prioritize chaos over clever plotting, and who don't mind a little raunch with their laughs.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like gleefully juvenile comedy where the jokes are built on the characters' stubborn, sweet-natured idiocy, and a slacker buddy group that never quite grows up is the whole point.

Skip it if you want sharp plotting or gags that land every few seconds, since this one wanders, leans hard on crude humour and lets the scenes sprawl well past their best moment.

What it asks of you: Around a hundred minutes of loose, shambling sketches, with the pace set by the group's lazy banter rather than by the story, so settle in and let the rhythm find you.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Reno 911!2003

Same premise—incompetent cops trying to look competent—but stretched across a mockumentary series that lets absurdity breathe. The ensemble chemistry is equally electric, and the stakes are even lower.

But It's broader and more uneven than the film. Some sketches land harder than others, and the mockumentary framing won't appeal to everyone.

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story2004

Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn headlining a sports-comedy about misfits taking on a corporate machine. Same DNA—friendship-driven chaos, genuinely funny sight gags, absurdist escalation that ignores physics.

But Relies heavily on '00s gym culture jokes that haven't aged brilliantly. Less character depth than you might want if you're not there purely for the laughs.

Old School2003

Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson as adult men behaving badly. It has Super Troopers' love of escalating stupidity, the same comedic register, and a cast that seems to be having genuinely silly fun.

But Broader and meaner-spirited than Super Troopers. The humour lands on degradation sometimes, which isn't everyone's taste.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Super Troopers

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Fargo1996

Both pivot on incompetent men stumbling into serious crime and the gap between their self-image and reality, but Fargo locks the emergency exit: consequences actually matter.

The Coen Brothers' crime thriller with genuine stakes and a farcical core: bumbling criminals create escalating chaos, but the film takes the moral weight seriously. Shows how the same structural DNA—incompetence meeting consequence—becomes tragedy instead of comedy.

But It's deliberately paced, darkly tragic, and Minnesota-bleak. The humour is woven into dread rather than foregrounded. If you need constant laughs, the long stretches of quiet tension will feel like drag.

Pineapple Express2008

Seth Rogen and James Franco as a stoner and his dealer on the run from criminals. Same blend of character chemistry, absurdist action, and the peculiar friendship-driven warmth that makes Super Troopers work.

But It's messier and slower in places. If you want tight plotting and constant laughs, the long middle section will test your patience.

The Other Guys2010

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as mismatched detectives. Takes the incompetent-cop comedy in a slightly more character-driven direction while maintaining the anarchic spirit and ensemble warmth.

But Requires some goodwill toward buddy-cop tropes. It's playing with genre in ways that might feel overstretched if you just want straightforward laughs.

21 Jump Street2012

Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as undercover cops who've stumbled into something too big for them. Smart enough to know it's ridiculous, funny enough to make the ridiculousness sing, with real affection between the leads.

But Leans hard into action sequences that interrupt the comedy rhythm. The plot requires you to care about beats that don't land as reliably as the banter.

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil2010

Two working-class guys mistaken for killers in a horror-comedy that flips perspective. Finds humour in character and situation rather than just pranks. Genuinely clever inversion of genre expectations with heart underneath.

But The horror elements are real enough to undercut pure comedy mood. If you need your laughs unbroken by genuine tension, it's an odd fit.

Shaolin Soccer2001

Stephen Chow as a kung-fu monk teaching soccer to outcasts. The same spirit of lovable misfits triumphing through teamwork and absurdity, with creative visual comedy that never takes itself seriously.

But It's in Cantonese with subtitles, and the humour is distinctly Hong Kong—a different sensibility entirely. The tone shifts more dramatically than Super Troopers maintains.

Accepted2006

Justin Long and friends founding a fake university. Ensemble comedy about misfits working together, with genuine warmth and an underdog spirit. Lighter touch than Super Troopers but similar ensemble affection.

But Significantly gentler and more earnest. If you're after the raunch and chaos, this dials down both considerably.

Police Academy1984

Direct ancestor—Super Troopers is what happens when you give the Police Academy premise to people who love the characters enough to actually develop them and make the comedy sharper.

The prototype for scrappy-cops-against-the-system comedies. Steve Guttenberg and ensemble cast prove their worth to authority while remaining likably useless. Innocent, quotable, built entirely on whether you find the cast's affection for each other contagious.

But It's from 1984 and shows it: gentler, broader, occasionally offensive by modern standards. The energy is exhausting rather than controlled, and the plotting is wafer-thin even by comedy standards.

Rubber2010

Both are anarchist comedies that reject logic in favour of committed belief in ridiculous premises; Super Troopers just happens to be about people you root for, while Rubber asks you to root for a tire.

A sentient killer tire wreaks havoc on a desert highway. Surreal, experimental, completely indifferent to whether you accept the premise. Director Quentin Dupieux commits entirely to the absurd logic, creating something that shouldn't work but does through sheer confidence and weirdness.

But It's genuinely bizarre and intentionally exhausting to watch. The joke—if there is one—is structural rather than funny-ha-ha. This is for people who find 'what the hell am I watching?' to be its own reward.