Puddle Cruiser DVD Review:

The comedy troupe Broken Lizard has been around for nearly a decade making films, and since their success with Super Troopers and Club Dread their first film is now available on DVD for the first time. Puddle Cruiser was actually at Sundance and was fairly well received, but it didn’t secure any distribution. Luckily the group of guys refused to give up, and now we can see their film, Puddle Cruiser.

The premise behind Puddle Cruiser was as simple as possible in order for the budget to be as low as possible. Felix Bean is an average college student who is interested in Suzanne, but he discovers that she has a boyfriend. She agrees to see him because her relationship is an open one, but Felix Bean’s ego is damaged when he finds out that her boyfriend is a tough rugby player. In order to prove his manliness Felix joins the rugby team.

The laughs aren’t non-stop, but fans of the comedy troupe may enjoy seeing the origins of the actors/writers. It is a college comedy, but there are none of the usual crude jokes. In essence it is a romantic comedy with a few offbeat characters thrown into the mix. Some of it works well while other jokes just seem to fall flat.

The DVD has a commentary track by the Broken Lizard members, which is pretty funny, but the highlight is the segments from a documentary “Rodeo Clowns”. The documentary shows the unique way that the troupe went out to promote and screen their film. They traveled by bus from college to college in order to get their film seen. What is even more amazing was their choice to do it again when they made Super Troopers, despite the fact that the film was actually acquired by Fox Searchlight. This seventeen minute excerpt from the documentary might be more entertaining than the film itself.



Ryan Izay