Weekend Buff

Super Troopers (2001)

Super Troopers (2001)

With all the activity and news coming out of the Oval Office you may need a rest. Agree with him or not, Trump is working at such a frenetic pace, it is even tiring us out. So, this installment of Weekend Buff will keep things lite.

Super Troopers is certainly lite. Complete brain candy for your relaxation and viewing enjoyment. A slapstick cop comedy for the ages. Cops around the country are still quoting lines from this movie almost 25 years later.

The movie’s plot, although not particularly important, is a small group of Vermont State Troopers who patrol a quiet section of highway fight to keep their station open. Due to a lack of activity, the Vermont State Police have decided to shut it down.

The troopers are a bunch of misfits and wiseasses, stumbling their way through each slow tour while competing with the hated local Spurbury cops.

No Academy Awards for this film and, with the exception of Brian Cox, no acting brilliance. It is notable that Jay Chandrasekhar wrote, directed, and started in this low budget film that grossed $23 million dollars in the box office.

This is base comedy at its finest with lewd jokes and practical jokes galore. A cult classic in cop circles, it pokes fun at the seriousness of police work.

You will see themes familiar to many cops here. Competition between agencies is as old as law enforcement. Trying to get cops to write summonses is the bane of many supervisors’ existence. The unwilling, the incapable, the unprofessional – these iterations of police officers are all on display here. Cops will recognize them all from various times in their careers.

The film will be a walk down memory lane for many cops. I can attest to having a great time on patrol and having some serious laughs. These “super troopers” seem to live by the mantra – “if you can’t make fun of people, who can you make fun of”.

Unfortunately, with the growth of body cameras and other video, police work isn’t as much fun anymore. Not to decry body cameras, they are a good idea. But they definitely take a little of the spontaneity and fun out of the job. Wiseass comments and practical jokes are not as funny when watching them on video in a Civilian Complaint Review Board hearing. It’s too bad - having a good laugh is an important way to release some tension from the serious and sometimes horrific side of police work.

This weekend let’s take a break from politics and travel back to when police work used to be a little more fun. Super Troopers runs a quick hour and forty minutes. You can check it out for free on Hulu or pay the usual 3-4 dollars. A rollicking and sarcastic good time that you should check out right meow.

Thanks for reading The Ops Desk. Stay Safe!