The Set of 400: #184 – My Favorite Johnny Chimpo Contraband

Today! Because I can say “meow.” I can say “moo.” For $20, I’ll call the guy a chickenfucker –

Super Troopers (2001)

Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar (x2)

Starring Jay Chandrasekhar (x3), Steve Lemme (x2), Kevin Heffernan (x2), Paul Soter (x2), Erik Stolhanske (x2), Brian Cox (x4), Marisa Coughlan, Daniel von Bargen, Geoffrey Arend, Andre Vippolis, Joey Kern, Lynda Carter, Jim Gaffigan, Michael Weaver, James Grace, John Bedford Lloyd

Look, I’ve got a Best Picture winner coming up, movie after next, so give me a little leeway on how much I enjoy this stupid goddamn movie. I’m not even sure the first time I saw Super Troopers – I had a buddy I did plays with who ran this movie at parties pretty much non-stop, and I was plenty drunk at most of those parties. I also met my wife at one of those parties, so is Team Ramrod indirectly responsible for my marital bliss to this day? Hell, it might be! Thanks, Farva! And shoutout to my pal JD!

The Broken Lizard had a movie out before this – something I don’t think much of anyone saw until after they hit it big, called Puddle Cruiser, but it’s very much the same thing. Most of their movies share the same comic sensibility, but none work better than this – the Vermont highway patrol gets embroiled in a drug smuggling investigation that may or may not involve their rivals from the local police department. And there is much drunken hijinks and pranks and maple syrup chugging along the way. It’s hilarious! Shut up!

Aww, look at the young Broken Lizard!

What is the general familiarity with Super Troopers? Is it the early ’00s comedy classic I believe it to be, or is it a forgotten low-budget goofball that Brian Cox got roped into somehow? Beats me, but every one of their movies since has found me at the theater watching, so Broken Lizard films are basically on par with Paul Thomas Anderson movies for this guy. Okay, that might be overselling it – I didn’t see The Slammin’ Salmon in theaters because it did not get much of a release (for no good reason, that movie’s funny too!) – but I also never contributed to a Kickstarter to get a PTA film made. That’s right, Super Troopers 2 entered your world at least partly due to yours truly! I’ve got the t-shirt and everything! You’re welcome!

Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, and score for that German techno song playing when they pull the swingers over, Super Troopers did not in fact receive any year-end style recognition, despite the lies of sentence’s opening clause. It was the recipient of the Midnight Film Audience Award at 2001’s SXSW Festival, tied with something called Wave Twisters and something else called Ladyporn. Judging by how much I love this movie, clearly I should get Ladyporn on the queue! Hope the wife understands!

But the awards this movie deserves are many – Best Mustache Ride, Best Meow Game, Best Coital Ursine Costume, and Best In-Coffee Soap Bar Rookie Biatch Prank, to name a few. Does none of this convince you of the overlooked genius of Super Troopers? Well, maybe it’s time to watch it again! And check out Super Troopers 2, it’s totally solid!

The whole #283 Beerfest group advances to the Two-Timers – Heffernan, Lemme, Soter, and Stolhanske – while director/Ramathorn Chandrasekhar also appeared in #377 I Love You, Man, and so gets to the Threes. But it’s Captain O’Hagan himself Brian Cox making the greatest strides, joining the Four-Timers after his work in #278 Zodiac, #320 Match Point, and #195 The Bourne Supremacy.