Hot Tub Time Machine

Got out and went to a movie last night. I’d been meaning to see “Hot Tub Time Machine” since before it came out, but just never seemed to get around to it. Well, it finally went to our local second-run discount theater. I figure a three dollar ticket price couldn’t hurt what already looked to be a fun flick.


My girlfriend and I had some friends over and we all wanted to see a movie. The girls were a bit indecisive and the guys were firmly in favor of “Hot Tub Time Machine.” We made a pact to go hot tubbing after the movie and it was off to the cinema.

We arrive and behind us in line were a group of 5 or 6 loud, rowdy teenagers trying to decide whether to see “Hot Tub” or “Kick Ass.” I can’t stand loud, obnoxious people in the theater, so I very firmly recommend they all see “Kick Ass.” They agree. Awesome.

A few, rather forgettable, trailers later, we’re starting the movie .

For those of you who didn’t see (and judging by the total box office, that’s plenty), this is a film about four guys who go back to the 80’s in a hot tub. It’s as retarded and awesome as that sounds. Usually, when you’re partying in a hot tub, you wake up in the future.

More specifically, it’s about three friends who are not at all where they want to be in their early 40s. Lou (Rob Corddry) is wild and self-destructive and spends a drunken night singing in his garage with the car on. This is mistaken for a suicide attempt and his friends, Adam and Nick (John Cusack and Craig Robinson), decide that they should all spend a weekend at a ski lodge where they enjoyed all their best weekends. Adam also drags along his nephew, Jacob (Clark Duke), just to get him off the computer and out of the house. The four find the ski town dilapidated and make the most of it by boozing in the room’s hot tub. One debauched montage later, they awake in 1986 during a weekend in which choices they made determined the course of their lives forever. However, they decide to make all the same choices again in order to protect the future. But they find it very hard to fuck up their lives all over again. Hilarity ensues.

Truth be told, the hilarity is in full force long before Reagan and pink spandex make an appearance. This was a movie that I went into with high expectations and got more than I bargained more. While this film didn’t receive the audience attention that “The Hangover” did, it deserves to be recognized as its near equal. The characters are so honest and relatable that guys will laugh at how much they have in common with them (especially the way that they justify and attempt to understand time travel through movies they’ve seen). The ladies can laugh at how much these guys are like their boyfriends/husbands.

I can’t recommend this movie enough. Every actor is so spot on. The supporting cast really shines at making it feel not so much that you’re in the 80s but in an 80s movie. Chevy Chase is odd but fun to watch. Crispin Glover steals every second of screen time he is afforded. I cannot wait for this to hit Blu-Ray.

Rating: 8 out of 10