Puddle Cruiser

Like a lot of people on IMDb, I saw Super Troopers first and laughed my *ss off, thinking these guys were the second coming of Monty Python or something. Then I saw Club Dread, which had a significantly higher budget and more studio support, and I was certainly let down. So when I saw Puddle Cruiser on the shelf, I thought this might be the holy grail of Broken Lizard movies: an early effort in which these guys' talents could really shine, without being overpowered by the production.

But alas this sluggish, only sporadically amusing film brings to light one glaring fact about the BL team: these guys may be charismatic and talented, but writing is NOT their strong suit. This script is simply not funny, and no amount of natural comedic talent can cover that up. That makes it all the clearer why Super Troopers worked so well, while Club Dread didn't. Just compare the scripts, and you'll see that one is full of great jokes and situations ripe with comedic possibility, while the other is more of a premise than anything else.

So while Puddle Cruiser is a charming look at the roots of these guys' collegiate comedy bond, it is far from a solid film. Watch it for the nostalgia value, and hope these guys put as much effort into their future scripts as they did on Super Troopers.

Super Troopers was an instant classic. Club Dread, while disappointing to many, had its moments. Puddle Cruisers has fewer moments. I saw this movie on the shelf of my local video store and saw at the bottom that it was made by the Broken Lizard group who made Super Troopers, so naturally I picked it up. I only found one scene to be laugh out loud funny. A far cry from Super Troopers. All in all, I was very disappointed. I would not recommend this to anyone, unless you have an abundance of free time, and really need to kill some time. However, you're better off playing video games, or watching something that might make you laugh or think.

I was excited to find this film on Sundance, it having been recommended to me by a friend who's no slouch in the picking-out-talented films department. I'm amazed this was done with only $160,000. I greatly look forward to the next projects of everyone involved. It reminded me of "Bottle Rocket," not so much in plot or style but in overall spirit and fun. I hope this gets the wide release it deserves, as I'd love to buy the DVD and find out more about how it was done, etc. Great film to watch with friends or by yourself. I know this review doesn't say all that much, but watching it this afternoon for the second time has made me alternately nostalgic and lighthearted, and I felt like tossing these words out into cyberspace.

Puddle Cruiser was my "Introduction" to the Broken Lizards. I saw the film in 2004 at a film festival that my wife talked me into attending. I had never heard of the Broken Lizards and was frankly not too excited about going. To cap it off, we didn't have a sitter for my 4 month old son, so I had to hold him for 2 hours. It was well worth it. The movie was great. It was filmed at their old college campus on a very low budget. It's raw, funny, absurd, ridiculous and enjoyable. With so much junk being produced now, it was a true break from mainstream crap. It's genuine art and not a bunch of clichés. See this movie and everything these guys make! By the way, I have NEVER rated a movie a "10". An "8" is pretty good.

Since one would most likely be watching this movie after seeing Super Troopers and/or Club Dread, one would be tempted naturally to compare this movie to the others. One should keep in mind this was their first film, and the budget was very low. That said... it is a good movie, well worth watching. It has several laughs out loud moments which in itself is worth the rental fee. It is very slow paced, and the film is almost completely dialog driven. However, there is great humor to be found in this dialog, the same humor which is found in S.T. or C.D..

Having been out of college for over 10 years now, I imagine this would be even funnier watching this as a college student, as the plot centers around college life in a small pond. However, it has a nostalgic nature seeing this, as it did bring back some of my college memories.

The acting of the lead character by Steve Lemme is extremely flat and tedious, helping to keep the pace fairly slow. (Lemme however in S.T. makes up for this ten fold.) Fortunately, the supporting characters played by the rest of the Lizard troop are exaggerated and outlandish. The repartee between Kevin and Paul's characters is particularly hilarious.

Jay and Kevin are excellent editors, and Jay also chose great music for the soundtrack. Jay also avoids the usual mistake of a young film-maker with a dialog driven script by having good and interesting cinematography. The mail room scenes with Freaky are funny and show off Jay's creativity behind the camera.

Again this is a good movie. It of course doesn't stand up well against Super Troopers, (which in my opinion is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.) And it will not be as visually as interesting as Club Dread which must have had a budget 100 times bigger than Puddle Cruiser. But it is a good and funny movie which can stand up on its own. I highly recommend it to any Lizard fans, and any fans of good comedy.