Ok, we don't usually review movies on Fandango. Heck, we're a movie ticketing site, so of course, we hope people will find something at the theater that they want to see, regardless of our opinion. But, I must go out of my way to praise and plead the case of Hot Tub Time Machine. Is it because I'm a child of the '80s and this vastly clever, ingenious, hilarious homage to the '80s teen comedy basically pays tribute to every pop culture signpost, movie and music landmark that I still cherish from my VCR-tape-and-cineplex intoxicated youth? Perhaps. I am proud to say that I watched hundreds and hundreds of movies during the decade from which I was 7 - 17, and directors John Hughes and Savage Steve Holland hold an equally lofty place in my heart. (sidebar: if you want to know even an inkling of what the era was really like, just check out a sampling of the top 40 '80s teen movies...and trust me, the list was originally much, much longer.)
I'm hoping Hot Tub Time Machine isn't passed over the way another nostalgic classic, Dazed and Confused, was missed when it was released in theaters back in the early '90s. At that time, I think a lot of us Gen-Xers were unsure about a movie seemingly intended for our older brothers and sisters from the '70s, and they were, I don't know, maybe too busy raising kids to take a trip out to see it. Now, most movie buffs know Dazed as the landmark that it truly is - an American Graffiti for anyone who grew up in the '70s and a classic fun ride for everyone else.
For the current generation, and all of us now thirty and forty somethings who may have our own kids (or not), don't make the same mistake. HTTM plays for everyone. I've seen it twice now, and trust me, it's very funny. Even if you don't think it's better than The Hangover (although I personally find it more entertaining, memorable and a lot less 'hip,' 'cool' and 'cynical,' which is a good thing), I promise you will smile and laugh.
For those who haven't heard, the plot is absurd. And the filmmakers know it. Three former best buds from the '80s who are having a rough go at life, and a child of the '2000s thrown in for good measure, travel to a once luxurious, now dumpy ski resort and are somehow transported after a night of drunken debauchery in their hot tub (complete with visions of a crazy dude in a bear suit, bikini babes and a funky squirrel) back to 1986. Their dilemma is simple. How should they behave now that they occupy their former youthful selves (except to each other, they look like they did back then), and most importantly, how do they get back to where they belong?
What follows is inspired comic lunacy, including a great running gag involving Back to the Future's Crispin Glover, a cameo from The Karate Kid's William Zabka, tributes to Red Dawn and Better Off Dead, and for anyone who doesn't know those flicks, a bunch of hardcore, R-rated, Old School-esque gags involving threesomes, twosomes and other fun, politically incorrect shenanigans.
John Cusack, who literally came of age in '80s teen movies (Say Anything, The Sure Thing, Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer, Class, Stand By Me, Grandview U.S.A., Hot Pursuit, Sixteen Candles) is the appropriate person to be jetting back to the decade, cast as the somewhat world-weary Cusack type we've seen in his more recent fare. Clark Duke, the pudgy lothario from Sex Drive, is great here as the nerdy kid who doesn't understand the no-iPhone, no-Internet era, but still does his best to keep the group on track, and make sure he'll still exist. And Craig Robinson is totally hilarious as the guilt-ridden married guy who can't get over the fact that in 1986, he's still a swinging single, not to mention a lead singer who can belt out a mighty version of Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl."
The true breakout star of HTTM is Rob Corddry as a Motley Crue-loving, completely uncouth and morally liberated heathen. He's the wild card in the mix that helps keep the movie moving along at a joyously anarchic, chaotic, altogether amusing pace. Younger audiences will get a kick out of his antics, and older audiences will fondly remember either once being him, or being the one to deal with him. As the Robinson character says, "he's an ***hole, but he's our ***hole."
I've read early reviews that question the inclusion of a romantic subplot involving Lizzy Caplan's character, an appealing rock journalist covering a Poison show who gets involved with Cusack's future slacker. But I appreciate the way director Steve Pink (a Cusack collaborator on Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity) and screenwriters Josh Heald and Jarrad Paul have thought out the entire picture.
There's a genuine warmth, and an overall game plan to HTTM that's surprising. Yes, it's funny and irreverent, as you would expect from something called Hot Tub Time Machine. Yes, it does pay tribute while playfully teasing the crazy and absurd things about the Reagan era. And yes, it is a balls-to-the-walls, frenetic, loosey goosey experience in the very best sense. But just as well, this film is knowingly aware of where it wants to go and does its damndest to do it with just the right amount of plot, a nice message about friendship and what really matters, and an eternal sense of fun for everyone.
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