COMEDIANS' CAPER HARDLY ARRESTS, BUT IT'S FUN.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

THERE'S A LINE toward the end of the scattershot comedy ``Super Troopers'' that perfectly explains the movie's philosophy. One of the film's frat-boy highway patrolmen differentiates his unorthodox approach to law enforcement from that of another bad cop's by explaining, ``(My) shenanigans are cheeky and fun. His are cruel and tragic - not really shenanigans at all.''

And there is some fun to be had in ``Super Troopers,'' a goofball comedy about five ridiculous Vermont highway patrolmen who relieve their boredom (not to mention their bladders) by pulling pranks on unsuspecting motorists. Written by and starring the members of a comedy collective known as Broken Lizard, the movie has a few moments of inspired, straight-faced stupidity, even as it grows increasingly repetitive after the first half hour.

What separates ``Super Troopers' '' shenanigans is indeed the absence of the kind of mean-spiritedness that fills most dumb comedies these days. That certainly counts for something, although it would have been nice if the boys in Broken Lizard had shown a little more creativity in their writing than recycling riffs from the Blues Brothers and the ``National Lampoon'' movies.

The ``Super Troopers'' gang - Thorny (Jay Chandrasekhar, who also directs), Foster (Paul Soter), Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske), Mac (Steve Lemme) and Farva (Kevin Heffernan) - enjoy pulling over scofflaws and messing with their minds. Sometimes they'll see how many times they can work the word ``meow'' into the conversation, other times it's the age-old peat-and-repeat gag. It's not sophisticated, but these guys aren't brain surgeons, either.

The only people with less initiative around these parts are the members of the local Spurberry police department. The cops have it in for the state troopers and vice versa, particularly when it looks like the governor (Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter) is going to shut down one of the police forces because of budget constraints. If you have to ask who will win, your IQ is lower than the movie's characters'.

Chandrasekhar directs with the Farrelly brothers' lazy, devil-may-care style, but the movie gets by because of the comic inventiveness of the performers. In addition to the Broken Lizard troupe, ``Super Troopers'' boasts great turns by Daniel Von Bargen (best-known as George Costanza's doofus post-Steinbrenner boss on ``Seinfeld'') and Brian Cox (``L.I.E.'') as the old-goat leaders of, respectively, the cops and troopers. Marisa Coughlan, showing there's life after ``Freddy Got Fingered,'' displays plenty of sexy charm as the woman among the boys.

All this probably won't add up to much of a theatrical run for ``Super Troopers,'' but this is the kind of movie that could take on a life of its own once it leaves theaters. The film premiered last year with a midnight screening at the Sundance Film Festival. That time slot could work in the future for a movie that has ``cult hit'' written all over it.

SUPER TROOPERS Two and one half stars

(Rated R: nudity, sexual situations, language and drug content)

Starring: Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske, Brian Cox, Daniel Von Bargen, Marisa Coughlan.

Director: Chandrasekhar.

Running time: 1 hr. 40 min.

Playing: Citywide.

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Photo:

Jay Chandrasekhar, left, Paul Soter and Steve Lemme mix high kicks and high jinks in ``Super Troopers.''