Film Review with Robert Mann – Hot Tub Time Machine

7th May 2010

Hot Tub Time Machine ***½

The title Hot Tub Time Machine was originally conceived as a joke by the movie’s co-writers when they were in college, and they figured no one would actually make a movie out of it. Such is the almost ridiculous nature of this movie’s title that it really had to be made into a movie. When you’re perusing through the cinema listings, this is just one of those titles that really pops out. Does the film live up to the comic potential of its title though? Best described as Back to the Future meets The Hangover, this film was pegged earlier this year in the states to be this year’s answer to the latter, with positive buzz ahead of its release prompting expectations for a break out hit at the box office. It wasn’t to be though, at the box office at least, as the film underwhelmed both on opening weekend in the long run, with box office numbers that proved moderate rather than spectacular. Nonetheless, though, the film has proven to be a winner with critics and those moviegoers who have seen it, suggesting that its underwhelming box office performance is more likely attributable to a lack of marketing than an absence of positive word of mouth.

For Adam (John Cusack) and his buddies, adult life just isn’t working out. Adam’s been dumped by his girlfriend, while Lou (Rob Corddry) is a party guy who can’t find the party, Nick (Craig Robinson) is a henpecked husband, and Adam’s nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) is a video game-obsessed nerd. In search of some action, the guys have a night of drinking in a ski resort hot tub. However, when they wake up, they realise that the hot tub is not only a hot tub but a hot tub time machine, and they’ve returned to the year 1986, a time when they were young and carefree – except for Jacob, who wasn’t even born yet. Ignoring the warnings of the mysterious Repair Man (Chevy Chase) that they must do everything exactly as they did when they lived through events the first time, the guys realise this is their chance to change their futures – Adam needs to change his love life, dumping his then girlfriend Jennie (Lyndsy Fonseca) and possibly finding new love with April (Lizzy Caplan), Nick needs to learn to assert himself, Lou needs to find his mojo after being beaten up repeatedly by Blaine (Sebastian Stan) – and Jacob needs to make sure he still exists when events involving his mother to be Kelly (Collette Wolfe) threaten to prevent him from ever being born.

Perhaps the simplest way of describing Hot Tub Time Machine is this – Back to the Future with lots of dick jokes. This will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from the film. The ‘Back to the Future’ riffs are clear and obvious but it never comes off as though the film is ripping off that film, more like lovingly homaging it, only added with added nudity and much cruder humour. As with pretty much any comedy, this film won’t be to everyone’s tastes. If you are not particularly fond of (the aforementioned) dick jokes, sexual inuendos or poo, pee and vomit gags then it is fair to say that this film probably won’t be for you. That said, this critic doesn’t normally have much appreciation for this kind of humour either but the somewhat restrained – the film is more referential than explicit – and not entirely tasteless approach taken by the filmmakers hear mean that the humour often feels rather smart as opposed to childish like many films featuring such humour and mostly stays on the right side of gross. The film is often quite hilarious, with both funny and witty dialogue and comedic situations providing laughs and the reactions of the characters to the situation they have found themselves in being priceless, particularly the way Nick reacts to the realization that the hot tub is a time machine. A lot of fun is had with the scenario, especially as the possibilities of how the future can be changed are revealed, leading into the finale of the film that may not fully satisfy but still proves very amusing. One of the real highlights, though, has to be a recurring gag involving a character played by Back to the Future actor Crispin Glover – who plays both the past and present versions of his character, just like he did in that film – who has only one arm in the present but in the past has two arms and is yet to lose one. Even though his screen time is a bit limited and his character is essentially just a recurring joke, Glover is perhaps the highlight the cast but this isn’t to say that the other performers don’t do a good job themselves. John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson and Clark Duke are all on top comic form and really work great together, rising star Lyndsy Fonseca shows yet another side after her role in Kick-Ass (which, incidentally, also featured Duke), Lizzy Caplan is a delightfully offbeat romantic interest and Chevy Chase is also amusing in his small role. The film also delivers in its presentation of 1986, with the fashions, music, popular culture, technologies and attitudes being captured authentically, the overall product perfectly captruing the look, sound and feel of the 1980s in perfect retro style but never overdoing the 80s nostalgia, the focus being primarily on the characters and the situation they have found themselves in rather than things explicitly relating to the period. So, overall, Hot Tub Time Machine is a well made and very enjoyable comedy that, while not quite living up to the likes of The Hangover, certainly won’t leave you wanting to find a time machine to stop yourself from seeing it.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

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