Review of Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) by Chads. — 29 Mar 2010

Did black people really listen to Rick Springfield? Sure, they did. Unaware of the ostensible incongruity of his race and song selection, Nick(Craig Robinson) belts out "Jessie's Girl" before a ski resort audience, and probably means every word of that chart-topping power-pop classic.

Set ten years prior to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, "Hot Tub Time Machine" recalls an era in which niche marketing had less of a stranglehold on the music industry. By deregulating the airwaves, rock parted ways with soul, creating a musical segregation that, to this day, keeps all the genres in isolation from each other.

But Nick lived through the eighties, so in spite of his Kid & Play hairdo, Nick's eighteen-year-old self was probably an anglophile, as well, which is hinted at by the straightaway older man's universal inquiry, "Where can I find a woman like that?" Such music cosmopolitanism can also be glimpsed in Dito Montiel's "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints", where Robert Downey Jr.

(as Montiel, reflecting back on his formative days spent in Astoria, New York circa 1986) marvels that Puerto Ricans had once listened to Journey. "Yo, Steve Perry is the s***!" proclaims one of the Latino youths.

That's debatable. In my mind, Dave Wakeling of The English Beat was the s***. The inclusion of "Save it For Later" on the soundtrack was probably John Cusack's idea. (General Public's "Tenderness" is my favorite eighties song.

) Although "Hot Tub Time Machine" disappointingly fails to detect "The Heart of Rock and Roll" in spite of its numerous "Back to the Future" references, the amiable enough film perfectly nails down the decade's tacky surfaces.

If you want a love letter to Generation X: see Greg Mottola's "Adventureland" instead.