Movie Review: Hot Tub Time Machine

by Justin Velasquez

April 4, 2010

In taking advantage of the iconic 80s figure that is John Cusack, director Steve Pink (Accepted) puts forth a comedy that produces some strong laughs at the expense of that decade, while presenting a catalyst to wax nostalgic about the same time frame.  Hot Tub Time Machine, on the strength of the title alone, is a farfetched comedy involving old friends, plenty of booze, a hot tub and time travel.  And Chevy Chase is there for good measure.

Three buddies live in 2010 and life has dealt each of them a crummy hand.  Adam (Cusack) walks into his house to find it empty - his girlfriend has just left him and taken her half of their stuff.  Nick (Craig Robinson, Pineapple Express) is a failed musician and hapless dog groomer married to a woman who controls his every move.  Lou (Rob Corddry, The Daily Show) is in the middle of a midlife crisis - for him the party never ended, even though he's obviously partying alone.  Rounding out the group is Adam's nephew, Jacob (Clark Duke, Greek), is a homebody who lives in his uncle's basement since his face is endlessly parked in front of a computer screen.  Thanks to a mishap involving Lou and a Motley Crue rock-ballad, the three reunite and take a trip to a ski resort in order to wrestle each other away from their dire situations.

Bringing Jacob along for the trip, their ultimate destination is the Kodiak Valley Ski Resort, site of some of the craziest, raunchiest, most memorable times that the three have experienced together.  The entire town where the resort resides has changed immensely and its dilapidated state lends itself to a seemingly boring and uneventful weekend.  But the four make the best of it and booze it up in a hot tub, only to wake up and realize they have been transported back to 1986.  The four realize the hot tub's unique feature and are naturally freaked out, especially since they're stuck until the repair man (Chase) can fix this now-busted unit.

The three, despite their predicament, are free to walk the same path they fatefully traveled 24 years ago.  They make a pact to re-enact the events of that weekend so they won't mess up anything, but already having knowledge of their futures each man is tempted to change it, and hopefully their fortunes.  They're lucky to be given a second chance... and Jacob gets to meet his mom before he's even born.  Of course, all hilarity ensues as the four tiptoe around this era much like Marty McFly skirted through the 50s while hiding Doc Brown's DeLorean in Back to the Future.

To make it official, Hot Tub Time Machine is hilarious.  It's a film that everyone can use every so often - a fun film that doesn't take itself seriously by providing enough humor to a time that already gets its fair share of scorn and mocking.  To make the film more genuine the producers were sly enough to include Crispin Glover and William Zabka, actors who are 80s mainstays along with Cusack and Chase. 

The one problem, and it's a minor one, is the film's attempt to swing for the fences with each joke.  This type of comedy tends to do that and even though a majority of the gags work some of them aren't home run worthy.  That makes for some trivial lulls during the film but overall doesn't take away from the entire experience.  By and large, Hot Tub Time Machine is a fun ride and is a trip worth taking especially if you've grown up in the 80s.

Three Stars out of Four