REVIEW: ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’

Hot Tub Time Machine RCC Rating: Worth Full Price On Opening Weekend

Maybe it’s a guy thing to wish we could go back in time and change things. “If only,” or, in Spanish, the wistfully melodic, “Ojala.” If only I could go back, I’d have asked that girl out or I’d have studied harder or I’d have been nicer. Someone once said that men romanticize the past while women romanticize the future – which is why men have dust-filmed trophies and women have hope chests.

If only…

If only I could go back and change things. Even if I could, it still wouldn’t be as funny as what happens in “Hot Tub Time Machine.”

“Hot Tub Time Machine” tells the story of three friends: Adam (John Cusack),  Nick (Craig Robinson) and Lou (Rob Coddry). Adam is a power yuppie going through a bad breakup with the latest girlfriend. His nephew, Jacob, lives in Adam’s basement and seemingly gets all his social interaction through Second Life. Nick, a former singer, is now a henpecked husband working a counter at a dog salon. And Lou… when we first meet Lou, he’s sitting in his garage in a running car, taking swigs of whiskey and rocking out to Mötley Crüe. This inevitably leads him to the hospital.

After his “attempted suicide” Adam suggest they all go up to Kodiak Valley, a ski resort they used to frequent when they were young, dumb and full of testicular fortitude. But, just like their lives, the bright and shiny has worn off and it’s a shell of its former self. They soon realize things just ain’t what they used to be, things start to go south… at least until they discover the inviting and not-weird-at-all-considering-it was-all-yucky-and-nasty-not-five-minutes-before glowing hot tub. They jump in and then, one very surreal scene later, the boys find themselves back in 1986.

Steve Pink – who might be better known as the writer of such pop culture classics as “High Fidelity” and “Grosse Point Blank”, directs this marvelous little bit of fluff with a bittersweet center. The writing team of Josh Heald, Sean Anders and John Morris bring us a sharp, smart script that knows when to let off the gas and when to stomp on it. I liked how it let the humor flow from the characters as opposed to the setting. Of course, you get a few 80′s-reference jokes but, for the most part, it lets the humor come about organically. It also expertly manages to delicately dance the fine line between funny and stupid. I’m generally pretty picky about my comedy, but (cliché in 3-2-1) this one had me laughing out loud. Repeatedly. In a way, it’s a lot like “Zombieland”: once you accept the premise of the movie, you pretty much leave yourself to accept some pretty wacky stuff and, in the end, you leave the theater feeling like you were entertained.

But it’s not just about the technical – the cast is amazing. Top of the bill you have John Cusack, who is having no small amount of success with these little retro nuggets of awesome. Clark Duke is embarrassingly good as Adam’s nephew(embarrassing because I see a bit of my own geekiness in him). Craig Robinson is top-shelf where mama keeps the cookies and has some of the best lines and deliveries in the movie. However, the gold medal, without a doubt goes to Rob Corddry – there’s just something about the energy he brings to the role that makes him stand out.

“Hot Tub Time Machine” probably won’t win any awards or change the world but, for 100 minutes, it will make you happy to be exactly where you are.

“Ojala.”