Hot Tub Time WHA?!

You'll think twice before jumping in another Hot Tub.

Hot Tub Time Machine

starring John Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, Lizzy Caplan, Crispin Glover, Chevy Chase, Collette Wolfe, Lyndsy Fonseca

directed by Steve Pink

Some people may disagree, but something as simple as the title can make or break the success of a film. The title is responsible for not only catching your attention, but also giving you some inkling as to what the show is all about.  Example of a great title? Pulp Fiction. Example of a bad title? Gigli. Do you see my point yet? Anyway, what I’m getting at is that had I heard the premise alone of this film, I’d have skipped it. If I’d heard to names of the actors involved alone, I really might have skipped it. But when the words HOT TUB TIME MACHINE became involved, I really had no choice but to watch it.

Hot Tub Time Machine begins with three best friends who have fallen apart as they grew older, and are unhappy with the way their lives have ended up. Adam (Cusack) just lost his live in girlfriend of many years and lives alone with his man-boy nephew Jacob (Duke). Nick (Robinson) gave up music and is stuck at a dead end job. When Lou (Corddry) gets depressed enough to attempt suicide, the guys decide to get together for a weekend away at a ski lodge they frequented in their youth to try and find their friendship again. After a drunken night in a hot tub, the four guys wake up in 1986. With little help from the mysterious Hot Tub repairman (Chase) the guys try to figure out how to get home. In the meantime, they have to live out exactly what they did on that weekend in 1986 in order to not cause a butterfly effect in the future. However, one by one, the guys start to question if they want everything left the same in the future; and chaos ensues.

Just because of how significant it was for modern comedy, most funny films for the next few years will be compared to The Hangover. In comparison, Hot Tub Time Machine is more than a worthy successor for the title of this year’s best comedy flick so far. Steve Pink, the director of 2006’s Accepted, brought a crazy premise together with actors that might not have otherwise had chemistry together to make a movie that will have you laughing your ass off from beginning to end. From the whispering of Great White Buffalo in reference to lost loves, to confirming the decade by the color of Michael Jackson; from drunk dialing your currently nine year old wife, to bad break up poetry; Hot Tub Time Machine has not one dull moment. Your mind will tell you that something like this should not be worth seeing at all; but your brain is wrong.

Score a win in John Cusack’s column. He really tanked in my eyes with the uber-disaster flick 2012, but his role in this movie revives his taste a bit. It took me back to Cusack’s roles in High Fidelity and Grosse Pointe Blank, both written by Steve Pink by the way. Craig Robinson stole the show for the most part; just about everything the man is involved in these days is hilarious. My favorite moment of the film is from Robinson; he looks into the camera and states “Must be some kinda…Hot Tub Time Machine.” I’m usually against breaking the fourth wall, but that moment is what the film is all about. Rob Corddry is a bit over the top, but it works for his character. Chevy Chase plays an interesting, if not odd, role as the repairman. Its just good to see him in a film again. And I can’t leave out Crispin Glover; its a small, simple role, but whenever he pops up in the film, you can’t help but start giggling.

Comedy is one thing, but I love when a funny movie can bring a good message home. Hot Tub Time Machine shows old friendships can be renewed, love is lost for a reason, and its never too late to do what you want to do. All in all, I don’t know that there will be a funnier movie premiere for the rest of the year. If you don’t get out to see it, you’re really missing out. Oh, and be warned; there is a scene after the credits. So sit back, relax; but forever be wary of whatever random Hot Tub you’re about to take a step into. Hey, you never know.