Shadows on the Wall | Super Troopers 3

Super Troopers 3: Farva’s Wedding

dir Jay Chandrasekhar
scr Broken Lizard
prd Richard Perello
with Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske, Brian Cox, Nat Faxon, Andrew Dismukes, Marisa Coughlan, Hannah Simone, Sakina Jaffrey, Iqbal Theba, Chace Crawford, Jon Rudnitsky, Lisa Gilroy, Linda Carter
release US/UK 7.Aug.26
26/US Searchlight 1h44

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theba, chandrasekhar, faxon and dismukes

These chucklehead cops are back with another riotous culture clash to distract them from another nefarious drug ring. Broken Lizard's movies are so packed with silly jokes that some are bound to hit the target, and the offhanded style of filmmaking keeps the audience steadily amused even when it isn't particularly funny. This is perhaps because the writer-actors and their up-for-it guest stars are having so much fun.

Vermont State Trooper Thorny (Chandrasekhar) is horrified when his dopey colleague Farva (Heffernan) gets engaged to his sister Sarita (Simone), and they begin planning a full-on Indian wedding. So Thorny sets out to break them up, even as he's busy with cases involving vandalism attacks on a loathed syrup conglomerate, the arrival of a new drug from Canada and local brothers (Crawford and Rudnitsky) who are clearly up to something with their wedding-planner sister (Gilroy). There's also a new captain (Faxon) and rookie (Dismukes) on the force, and an electric squad car to contend with.

As before, scenes are packed with running gags that get nuttier each time they come around. And through everything, retired Captain O'Hagen (Cox) is still lurking around the station, as if he has nothing else to do. It's unsurprising that much of the humour is largely centred around male genitalia and fart jokes. But there's also a sneaky intelligence running through even the most ridiculous scenes, poking fun at bigotry and political issues with a knowing wink.

Performances are fairly clownish across the board, although it's great to have actors like Jaffrey and Theba on hand (as Thorny's parents) to lend a bit of class to even the most low-brow punchlines. And Faxon skilfully generates sympathy with his superbly disarming persona. Broken Lizard (Chandrasekhar, Heffernan, Lemme, Soter and Stolhanske) operate more like an ensemble this time around, each with his own journey through the plot's escalating mayhem.

The film works best when it simply centres around these guys making fun of and playing pranks on each other. So big set pieces like an enormous shootout feel almost beside the point. And elaborate gags referencing The Dukes of Hazzard and Star Wars are strained to the breaking point. But this is a thoroughly enjoyable way to forget the worries of the world for 100 minutes. The gap has halved from the 16 years between the first and second movies, so perhaps a fourth adventure isn't too far off.

themes, language, violence 5.Aug.26

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