Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Broken Lizard's first movie? Alright, I'm down for that. I'm not the biggest fan of Broken Lizard, as I think Super Troopers is kinda over-rated, and I'm a notorious fratboy hater…and this is a fratboy favorite. With that said, I also didn't care for Club Dread either. But Beerfest, I enjoyed quite a bit. I'm a sucker for OTT German antics, boozing, and Mo'nique, so it was just the right ingredients. One thing about the Broken Lizard crew is that they're always gungho in their comedy. They seem to always been on the same comedic page with one another, whether I like the jokes or not, and that's something I appreciate.Puddle Cruiser is basically a cliché college love story with a Broken Lizard style. The main story arc is boy has hots for girl, girl likes guy but already has a boyfriend. They try to make it work, but of course that doesn't work smoothly, blah blah blah. Then you have a couple side stories revolving around breaking in entering, 6 digit phone numbers and weirdo mail clerks, which all work nicely on their own.I gotta admit, I wasn't expecting much for this film. I was expecting the humor that the guys are known for, to be unpolished and much more in your face. But a lot of the jokes were handled well, and combined silly characters with some sly writing to bring home the laughs. Mind you, I don't laugh very often in most comedies, and this is no different, but the film has likability to it and enough quirkiness that made it a success.I've seen quite a few Broken Lizard fans bash this film…but they're probably just frat-boys who were simply expecting something similar to Super Troopers. In a way I like this more than Super Troopers as I really hate frat-boys. But I can also admit when I noticed something that didn't sit well with me. The writing during the relationship scenes, and the two leads in that relationship were kinda iffy. Not once was I really impressed with what they were dishing out. It was all pretty cliché and kind predictable.But like I said above, I hate frat-boys, and I thought this movie was a pretty good film. It won't be blowing your minds, but if you can have an open-mind, unlike robot frat-boys, and give this film a chance, you should come away enjoying it. I know I did. But of course, I hate frat-boys.

"Puddle Cruiser" is a very funny movie, and it surprised me how good it was when I saw it. I saw the movie recently after seeing Broken Lizards other three more recent and more popular movies. There was the hilarious "Super Troopers" (2001), the not-quite-as-funny follow-up "Club Dread"(2004), and the redeemingly funny "Beerfest" (2006).One of my friends had a DVD copy of "Puddle Cruiser" which had the cover art stating "From the guys who brought you 'Super Troopers'". I read the description on the back and thought that because this movie takes place on a college campus, it could be either really good, or really bad.One problem with movie comedies that take place in college is that it seems as though the movie makers want to make another "Animal House". Hence, they inundate the movie with binge drinking, dumb frat guys with no apparent study habits or visible means of income, bikini-clad girls with similar ambitions, and the tired misconception that college is one big 24-hour orgy. Mind you "Animal House" was a great movie, and one of the Top 10 best comedies of the last 50 years. However, when other filmmakers try to top the "Animal House" antics with outrageous stunts, they forget one main ingredient: actual genuine humor.Fortunately, to Broken Lizard's credit, they made here a smart college movie with absolutely no ambition to be the next "Animal House". They made a college comedy on their own terms, and the results are surprisingly good.The characters in the film are well developed and often times appealing, even when they're dislikeable (the character of Traci Shannon comes particularly to mind here). They're also memorable with a slew of unforgettable lines. My personal favorite characters include Freaky Reaky (Erik Stolhanske), the mailroom worker who talks like a late night DJ, and Emily (Alison Clapp), the hottie's best friend who really sells each scene she's in. It's surprising that this movie is Clapp's only movie credit to date. All the performances are relatively consistent, and that's rare for a movie made by first timers.The scene at the end is probably the best, when the big rugby match is about to be played. Not only does it start out very funny with a scene that deliberately spoofs "Spartacus" (1960), but the game commences in a very unpredictable way. It still has me laughing weeks after seeing it.What differentiates this film from "Super Troopers" is the fact that the humor is very deadpan. There isn't as many visual gags, nor is there as much swearing, as in Broken Lizard's breakthrough cult hit. It also seems as though each member of Broken Lizard takes turns in each movie playing the straight man and the funny man. The character Steve Lemme plays in "Puddle Cruiser" is mild mannered, likable, and slightly naive, far different from the slightly dumb risk taker he later played in "Super Troopers". I could go on forever with comparisons between the two movies, but the films should really be watched side by side because they are funny differently, but equally.Regardless of whether you've seen "Super Troopers" already, this film is worth checking out. I'm not sure its cult status, but it deserves to be recognized for the incredibly funny movie it is. I highly recommend it.

I found Super Troopers only mildly amusing at best (seemed like a glorified Police Academy ripoff to me), and I rented this movie in hopes of it being better. It wasn't.The writing is absolutely horrible and the pacing of this film is even worse. It doesn't feel like a whole lot happens in this film, or that it really gives us a reason to give a damn about any of the characters.The actor who plays Felix is totally uninspired, though possibly due in part to the dialogue he had to work with. In short, this movie just went wrong in so many places.I get the impression that since films like Clerks, independent filmmakers seem to think that they can make movies like this with long, rambling scenes of dialogue where characters are trying to be funny. But, where dialogue in Clerks pushes the story forward, in this movie, it hopelessly weighs it down. Films are supposed to have a decent balance of action and dialogue, and as tempting as it is for filmmakers to try to have tons of snappy, funny dialogue, it just doesn't always work. Especially if they're not that good at writing dialogue. I hate to say it, but even "Extreme Heist" was more interesting than this movie- and that movie was so low-budget it was shot on video.

Most everyone on IMDb has been bashing this movie, saying that "it's nothing like Super Troopers or Club Dread" when, in all reality, it has the SAME exact humor as either of those movies. Kevin Hefferman is comic gold along with the rest of the Broken Lizard Comedy Group and this was not a disappointing buy for me simply because I love their material and this was nothing different from their normal humor. So stop listening to all the critics, go out and rent it, and form an opinion for yourself. Then, after viewing it first-hand, you can form your own opinion based upon what you actually saw, instead of what everyone on IMDb says about the movie. Now that's all I have to say, and I just need this stuff to fill my 10 lines necessary to post on the page.