Review of Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) by Patches T — 08 Apr 2012

Hot Tub Time Machine is more than an homage to 80's movies, it's a love letter to the 80's generation and their fascination with boss new technology, puppy love, flashy style, and the future. John Cusack (Adam) plays another lovesick wanderer on a mountain ski resort obsessing over a seemingly perfect, but ultimately shallow girl with whom things are bound to fail, so he stumbles into an unlikely courtship with a quirky, deep, out-of-town girl that shows him the key to his happiness. And this time it's not Diane Franklin.

(That character "April" is played by my newest celebrity crush, hot jew, Lizzy Caplan. I'm a known sucker for jews. Their noses are pretty. My girlfriend has a pretty jew nose.).

As she prepares to say goodbye and board a bus headed out of the state, she whispers to a longing Cusack "maybe the universe will bring us back together", an obvious homage to Serendipity. Like all good comedies in this vein, each character has a certain adequate development and in the end, are wrapped-up in a feel-good package of comedy gold. Some eighties movie references include: Better Off Dead, Back to the Future, Sixteen Candles, and The Karate Kid with homages to other movies like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Even Crispin Glover's character seemed a bit George McFly-esque at times. "Calvin, I have to talk to you. Darth Vader from the Planet Vulcan visited me last night and said that if I don't ask Lorraine to the dance, he'll melt my brain!" Craig Robinson's impressive comedy chops are showcased in this one as well.

Also, parents should mind the rating. A family of four came to see this and left, blank-faced, with little to talk about together other than a few scenes. There is sexuality, nudity, and cussing. Leave the kids at home. Take them to see Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. On another note, the sex scenes were not a distraction from the inherent comedy in this one, like they can be in others. The comedy was pleasantly overpowering.