Puddle Cruiser

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.

This flick highlights the comedic skills of the broken lizard troop and is a must see for any fan. It is my personal favorite of the three films the troupe has made and it is every bit as funny as Super Troopers if not more so. Steve Lemme is excellent as the romantic lead a different role than he has played in the other films. Erik Stolhanske is also incredibly funny as the trippy Freaky Reaky. The story is simple, but the writing fully makes up for it. It is incredibly dialogue driven and original. An excellent debut film and it must be noted that without they probably wouldn't have been able to make Super Trooper so all of their fans owe a big debt of gratitude to this little scene indy.

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.

A hilarious movie made by a comedy group called the "Broken Lizard". They were recently-graduated Colgate students who raised a pile of money to make their movie. Armed with a great script, a bunch of unknown actors and a great soundtrack they made their movie on the campus about a group of friends, a girl, and a guy named Traci Shannon aka "Thunder". The acting is great, the lighting and sounds are amazingly well done. It is amazing what you can do with $160,000 and a good imagination. They are currently touring the country in a Winnebago, going to college campuses to show their movie. Look for it! You won't be disappointed.

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.