Review of Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) by Simon P — 20 Apr 2014

Three friends are on a serious losing streak in life: Adam (John Cusack), whose girlfriend has dumped him and left him with not that much, Nick (Craig Robinson), with a dead-end job and a cheating wife, and Lou (Rob Corddry), a suicidal alcoholic. To help Lou recover from car-exhaust poisoning, Adam and Nick, with Adam's nephew Jacob (Clark Duke), go to the Kodiac Valley Ski Resort where they used to hang out in their teens. It's now a dump, but the lads rally for a night of drinking in the hot tub. Somehow, the hot tub takes them back to 1986, on a fateful night for each of them. They realise that they have to make sure that nothing is changed in terms of events that day to make sure the nephew is born in the future...

This screwball comedy tries to be something that actually came out in the mid 80s and it partly succeeds. It carries the classic misogynist, bad taste teen comedy mark we saw a lot of in the mentioned decade. Roger Ebert gave it three stars, commenting that, "The bottom line is, gross-out guy comedies open twice a month, and many of them are wretched excesses. "Hot Tub Time Machine", which wants nothing more than to be a screwball farce, succeeds beyond any expectations suggested by the title." Yes, homophobic, racist and sexist humour is quite vivid in this comedy, at times it works and sometimes not. Clear references and homages to the 80s is apparent as well, particularly within the cast with actors such as John Cusack, Chevy Chase and Crispin Glover (so underrated). "Hot Tub Time Machine" is about what if you could change something in the past, how would it effect your future. It´s about being true to yourself and not forgetting who you are deep down. I enjoyed Lyndsy Fonseca´s and Collette Wolfe´s participation as well. It´s an ok comedy, but I reckon without John Cusack in the cast "Hot Tub Time Machine" would have been something less watchable.