Review of Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) by James S — 28 Jun 2012

This must have been one of those ideas conceived at the studio Christmas party after a few bottles of champagne had been consumed and scribbled down on the back of a napkin. It probably seemed brilliant at the time as a combination of Back to the Future and High Fidelity laced with the humour of Family Guy but like most drunken antics, it's not nearly as much fun once you're sober.

John Cusack (making one of the more dubious choices of his career) and Craig Robinson (trying to get his break away from the US version of The Office, which incidentally, is a lot funnier than this) decide they need to stop their self destructive friend Rob Corrdry from slipping down a slope to alcoholic oblivion by taking him, along with Cusack's nephew Clark Duke, on a trip to the town in which they previously partied hard in the 80s. Upon arrival they get drunk in the hot tub which just so happens to be a time machine which takes them back to said period of bad hair and leg warmers and on to a journey of self discovery that they all need.

The little pleasure that can be derived from HTTM comes from the easy laughs at things like big mobile phones and other 80's prevailing paraphernalia. There might be one or two smiles also raised in the early going by the frat boy jokes but this soon runs it's course. Swearing loudly isn't all that funny after about ten minutes.

Perhaps Cusack thought he was going to emulate his success of his others 80s love letter movie Grosse Pointe Blank but this is a far cry from that. He does okay with the material he's given, as do his co stars, but that's about all they can do. A lesser cast might have made the movie unbearable so they do deserve some credit.

Worth mentioning too is Crispin Glover, presumably in a nod to Back to the Future, as a one armed bell hop who recurs throughout the film and who's sub plot is a good deal more interesting than the main story.

Unlike other time travel movies, Hot Tub Time Machine acknowledges the butterfly effect of changing things in the past but then decides to ignore it completely in order to achieve the happy ever after ending. It makes almost half of the movie seem completely redundant.

Aside from one or two good laughs and a semi-decent cast, HTTM is a pretty sad affair. If 80s nostalgia is your thing then you'd be better off watching The Wedding Singer again than this.