Puddle Cruiser

Wow, this was"¦not funny. Broken Lizard definitely planted the seeds of their signature comedy style somewhere in Puddle Cruiser, you just have to look hard to find it. With laughs few and far between, you have to give them credit for their brave attempts, and some sparse victories with this film.

Puddle Cruiser was the first full length film shot by the guys from Broken Lizard (Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske). After meeting and forming their comedy troupe at Colgate University, these five friends and frat brothers decided to document their college experience in a no holds barred comedy"¦at least that was the idea behind it. College has become a major rite of passage for young adults, a rite of passage that ends up being the longest vacation of your life. As we've seen in Animal House, the combination of young horny people, drugs, alcohol, and lots of spare time is a recipe for great comedy. Puddle Cruiser attempts to channel some of the spirit of National Lampoon, creating a sort of proto-Van Wilder in the process.

Felix Bean (Lemme), Grogan (Heffernan), and Matt (Soter) go on a clandestine operation to raid the cafeteria when the hard ass campus five-o bust up the deal. Felix manages to elude the walkie-talkie clad soldiers of peace while Grogan and Matt get caught red handed. Defending the partners in trial in the upcoming trial for expulsion is the beautiful and unattainable Suzanne (Kayren Butler). Felix falls for Suzanne and sets out to rip her from the clutches of her meathead boyfriend, With the advice of all-wise friends Zach (Chadrasekhar) and Freaky Reaky (Stolhankse), Felix tries to avoid the Man and bed his new love all at the same time. Can Felix navigate the testy waters of love, lust, and the law?

The most solid performance is hands down given to Stolhanske as Freaky Reaky. It's weird, he's always the one whose face I forget yet he consistently catches your eye on film. Reaky's nuanced and quirky character is an inkling of what the troupe as whole would create with movies like Super Troopers and Club Dread. Here they try to act as normal guys who deal with abnormal situations, what they are most successful at is the exact opposite"¦creating extremely abnormal characters dealing with real situations. At least they figured out what works for them, and they stuck to it. What we see here is a clever experimentation, with a couple of chuckles here and there.

The DVD is just now being put into stores almost ten years after its production. The special features are scant but amusing. Check out the commentary from Heffernan and Chandrasekhar and the short documentary 'Rodeo Clown' based on Broken Lizard's grassroots

effort to promote their films. They discuss their role as independent film makers, and you get to see some impromptu skits created to entertain the people they convinced to come to the screenings. Other than that there's nothing else to whet your Broken Lizard appetite. So, all in all, this one is worth renting only for die hard Broken Lizard enthusiasts. By now it's a little dated, and not really representative of their best work"¦.and I think the Broken Lizard guys would be the first to tell you that.

Movie Grade: D

DVD Grade: D+

Overall Grade: D