Hot Tub Time Machine Review

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Starring: John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig T. Robinson, Clark Duke.
Dir: Steve Pink
Writ: Josh Heald & Sean Anders

Of all the things that can be said about MGM's buddy comedy "Hot Tub Time Machine", let me start with this: Not since "Snakes On A Plane" has a film presented its subject matter in such an honest and literal fashion.
Unlike "Snakes", however, "Hot Tub" goes beyond its initial four-word premise and manages to pull out a film that exceeds the expectations set by its title.



John Cusack, the second-best choice to head an '80s themed time travel film, (Michael J. Fox is the first, but unavailable for obvious reasons) plays Adam, a depressed self-centered 40-something who has recently lost his girlfriend, and has long since lost touch with his friends Nick and Lou (Robinson and Corddry) and his sister, despite the fact that her son Jacob (Duke) lives in his basement. When Lou is put in the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning, (he sat in his garage drunkenly revving his gas pedal to the beat of Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home") Nick and Adam read it as a suicide attempt. Concerned for their friend, they plan a trip to the ski lodge where the trio spent most of their happiest younger days. Taking Jacob along for the ride to ensure he actually leaves the house, the group finds their old stomping grounds a dilapidated ramshackle mess, with the town boarded up and out of business. The cheering-up part of the trip is also a failure, because the three have been apart for so long, they have only awkwardness and boredom between this. The tendency of people to take each other for granted unless faced with a crisis is a central theme in the movie, and it's dealt with in a surprisingly relate-able, human manner. Now do me a favor: Re-read that last sentence and remind yourself that this is a film entitled "Hot Tub Time Machine."

Of course the four find themselves in the hot tub, and of course they are transported through time to 1986, into the bodies of their 20-something selves. Except for Jacob, as he was not yet born, and he becomes the voice of reason, urging the others not to change anything in the past so that he can, you know, get born. The three attempt to recreate their experiences at the ski lodge 24 years ago perfectly, making this an extremely plot-heavy film. (Again, re-read and remind.)

I don't want you to get the wrong idea, this film purports itself as a sick-minded guy comedy, and it absolutely is. It does not spare the gross-out humor, drug jokes and the swear words, ninety percent of which involve Corddry. It just happens to be better that most of the sick-minded guy comedies that seem to invade theaters at least once a month. (Writer Sean Anders is actually also responsible for currently competing film "She's Out of my League.") Much like last year's "The Hangover," much of this success is due to the incredible likability of the actors. Corddry plays a drunken loudmouth asshole with incredible earnest; his underlying insecurities come out, but not in a way that distracts you from the hilarity of his abrasive nature. Corddry brilliantly subverts a trope here: Lou acts like a dick to hide his inner pain, yes, but he also acts like a dick because he is authentically a dick. Craig Robinson's performance as an emasculated man struggling with his wife's affair is just as much of a highlight in the film, and while he doesn't steal as many scenes as Corddry manages to, he does take away most of the film's best moments, including a drunken phone call to his nine-year old future wife, and a deadpan, straight-at-the-camera delivery of the film's title line. If there's a flaw in the performances, it's that Cusack and Duke can't quite agree which one of them is supposed to be the straight man, so they trade off and fall by the wayside as breaks in between  the Lou and Nick show. This is a minor issue, however, one that is remedied by the film's witty script and quick pacing. Adam and Jacob are not the most interesting characters there, but they are far from boring.

A great deal of the film's humor comes from it's amazing self-awareness. The Back to the Future references are numerous, including Crispin Glover's brilliant bit part as a one-armed bellhop, (Lou spends most of his time in the '80s waiting for him to lose it,) Jacob's fading in and out of existence, and Nick bringing a crowd a Black-Eyed Peas song a la Marty McFly's "Johnny B. Goode." The Karate Kid gets a shout-out, as does Red Dawn. Chevy Chase plays the Doc Brown role in the movie, as if to remind us that he is the one member of the cast who would actually be a lot better off if it were 1986. I halfway expected to see Clark Duke to hold up an oversized boombox outside a girl's window until John Cusack made him stop, but maybe that would have been too blatant. The references are just that, references, they're fun if you understand them, but don't detract from the overall enjoyment of the film. Lesser movies would take the low road with this and make '80s references the movie's entire foundation, and it is to director Steve Pink's credit that he resists that temptation.

"Hot Tub Time Machine" isn't brilliant, but it's a fun distraction with a well-written and surprising script, and good performances by people who actually seem like they could be long-lost friends. What I'm saying here is, for a movie that makes a vomit-covered squirrel a running gag/plot point, "Hot Tub" ain't half bad.

Final Total: $27. I can definitely see myself re-visiting Hot Tub Time Machine, and if it has commentaries from all four cast members, it's definitely earned a spot on my DVD shelf. (Extended Video of Craig Robinson singing "Jesse's Girl" and "Let's Get It Started" wouldn't hurt either.)