American comedy team Broken Lizard, who wrote, directed, and starred in this patchy comedy, have been touted as the next Monty Python.

It would be more accurate to call them the next Kids in the Hall, the Canadian combo whose 1996 film "Brain Candy" rightly sank without trace.

Based on the rivalry between highway patrolmen and local cops, the film follows five childish but good-hearted Vermont state troopers (Stolhanske, Chandrasekhar, Heffernan, Lemme, and Soter) as they indulge in horseplay at the expense of a variety of bemused motorists and each other.

It's all conducted under the fatherly eye of their chief, Captain O'Hagan (Cox).

When their department comes under threat of closure, however, they need a big case to keep their jobs.

A dead body found in a camper van and the seizure of a shipment of pot look like saving the day, but the Spurbury police are also sniffing around a possible publicity coup for the force.

There's a lot of fun to be had initially as the cops cheerfully flout the law for a bit of a laugh, particularly in their encounter with three paranoid teenage stoners and a huge bag of grass.

But the necessity for a plot shows up the limitations in the writing.

The chance of a good - or even half-good - gag is too tempting, and minor things like believable characters and an attention-grabbing story unfortunately take a back seat.

Cleese, Palin and co can rest easy - this film's no comedic Holy Grail.