Hot Tub Time Machine

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Okay, it's a hot tub. It's a time machine. It's a movie about a Hot Tub Time Machine; the title alone is a warning that should proclaim to anyone with a brain that THIS MOVIE WILL PROBABLY SUCK. Logically, it makes no sense: a hot tub as a time machine? "Yeah, right. Let the sucking be on someone else's dollar, but not mine." Yes, that's what you'll think... but then there will be that nagging sensation that draws you back to the very seed of the picture: a hot tub time machine. It is interesting. And why not? In the 80s, we believed a DeLorean could be a time machine and that movie didn't suck, so why not dip your toes in this hot tub? But as a time machine?!?! Yes, folks, it's seems like a silly idea for a movie but imagine the self-assured swagger these filmmakers must have to even christen this movie with that namesake. That's how confident they are in its material and it's a confidence that is deservedly in-step because Steve Pink's Hot Tub Time Machine is a certified righteous toke of comedic pot from beginning to end.

Shocked by their friend's suicide attempt (Roy Corddry), Adam (John Cusack) and Nick (Craig Robinson) decide to take him back to where their greatest weekend took place in High School. Joining in on the adventure to relive the past, despite Roy's hilarious insults and complaints, is Adam's nephew, Jacob (Clark Duke), for no other reason than he needs to get the hell out of Adam's basement and socialize with some women. That's the scenario for Hot Tub Time Machine: these four failed men, who have allowed time and personal choices to nearly place them as strangers in each other's lives, romanticize the past with a return trip to the ski lodge of their misspent youth... except even the scene of the crime is a pale shadow of its past glory; it seems time has also taken its toll on business. Depressed by the sad reality of their situation, the men attempt to soak away their personal stresses in a recently fixed hot tub, courtesy of a mysterious Repair Man (Chevy Chase), that transports them thanks to a wild night of drunken revelry and spilled energy drinks (dumped right into the hot tub's own flux capacitor-like contraption) back to 1986... when life was grand and ruined and so... pastel.

Sending-up some classic 80's movies (Pretty in Pink, Better Off Dead, Red Dawn), Hot Tub Time Machine takes shape as a criminally hilarious recap of all things 80's and allows the men to prove their self-worth by following the course of Back to the Future and reliving the past without changing a thing... until they do start to change things resulting in hilarious consequences for everyone including the Ski Lodge's one-armed (you know, for tips) bell boy (Crispin Glover).

Written and directed by Pink, who also wrote Cusack's Grosse Point Blank and High Fidelity, Hot Tub Time Machine manages to shock with gross-out scenes of fit-causing hysteria and produce tears of laughter throughout the film with a graceful cast. Corddry is the best drunk burnout seen on-screen and manages to be the party animal with such enthusiasm that it's hard to not like him... even if he is essentially a jerk. Robinson finally gets his moment to be something more than a brief cameo in a meaty and hilarious role that showcases his acting talents with comedic timing and singing. And Cusack's own bellowing of how much he hates the 80's is a hysterical precursor to watching him, in one of the funniest moments of drugged transformation, dawning on the familiar outfits of his 80's cult-status persona: the hunting cap, the trench coat, the crazy glasses; seeing all this happen is entirely too much fun for audience members who were teens in the 80's.

Hot Tub Time Machine doesn't tease its audience. It doesn't pretend to be anything more than a guy movie concerned with boobs and beer and better hair. It's this year's The Hangover: loud, crude, vulgar, obscene, but there's a twist to its storyline because with Cusack (who, let's face it, has never hit a sour note in a career that started in '82) in the lead role Pink's movie revisits everything we once loved about the 80's with a modern sensibility in its humor. While it references the 80's pop culture with fine finesse, Hot Tub Time Machine is no parody. The movie's Motley Cru-like heart has, surprisingly so, real intelligence kick-starting within its walls and its sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll storyline about friendship even into our forties - is so slapstick in its delivery and so much fun to watch that you'll be surprised at how awesome the 80's seem to be...all over again.

For my money, Hot Tub Time Machine should be celebrated as an example of celluloid anarchy; it's the best 80's movie John Hughes never made.


Component Grades
Movie
DVD
4 stars
4 stars
DVD Experience
4 stars

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - June 29, 2010
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles
: English SDH, French, Spanish
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Single disc (1 BD); Digital copy

While not the bonus-bundled bonanza the studio had once promised, the Blu-ray does come equipped with the unrated version of the film which adds 10 minutes of oddball raunchiness to the theatrically released version.  It also pads some of the dramatic moments of romance between Cusack and Caplan which is a nice treat. The disc supports an attractive and spotless 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode (2.35:1) that keeps exteriors bright and full of depth, however, the interiors tend to roll a little on the shadowy darker side of things.  This is only a minor flaw, but it is noticeable.

Supplements:

Theatrical Promotional Spots (6 min): Basically, a collection of promos with cast interviews that discuss the production, Chevy Chase, and the movie's plot.

Trailer

Deleted Scenes (12 min):

  • Complete with extended scenes and alternate takes, this collection of is actually quite funny and gives us more Chevy Chase – which is a major plus.

Digital Copy: A standard definition copy of the film is packaged with the Blu-ray for portable media devices.

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