‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ Review

Release Date: 3/26/10

Hot Tub Time Machine, directed by Steve Pink (Accepted), is a straight up outrageous buddy comedy.  It has a stupid plot with raunchy cheap jokes, ridiculous characters, and writing which never takes itself serious, it also may be the funniest damn movie of 2010.  This is a comedy that is definitely not for everyone, especially in the days of the smart comedy, but if you like to laugh out loud and just enjoy yourself during a comedy then this is a movie for you.  Hot Tub is just so absurd on every level but mixed with a hilarious cast, 80’s music, and some wild gross out scenes it works as an entertaining comedy motion picture.

This movie follows a group of best friends who’ve become bored with their adult lives, Adam (John Cusack) has been dumped by his girlfriend, Lou (Rob Corddry) is a party guy who accidentally almost commits suicide, Nick (Craig Robinson) has a wife who controls his every move even his last name, and the video game-obsessed Jacob (Clark Duke) who is Adam’s nephew and is addicted to his computer. The friends decide to take a road trip to a ski resort they once partied at when they were younger, but when they get there it’s not like they remembered, especially the hot tub that sends them back in time to 1986.  Now they have a chance to relive all the things they did back then while a creepy repairman (Chevy Chase) gives them the run around while trying to fix the hot tub.  Will they redo everything as they did in 1986 to keep the universe intact or will they change everything, it doesn’t really matter or need to make sense, it’s just fun to watch.

Hot Tub is a hard R rating.  It’s got a lot of f-bombs, boobies, gross out shit and semen scenes, everything you could ask for in a comedy nowadays.  Hot Tub combines all the right ingredients to make a shocking flick that most teenagers and 20 year olds will love.  It is very similar to The Hangover because it follows a group of friends who go on a road trip to try and have a wild time, it just takes that a step further by throwing in a hot tub time machine that sends them back to the 80′s.

The cast it what makes this ridiculous plot work.  Clark Duke was annoying in Sex Drive and he gets a little annoying in this, but nothing that ruins the film.  It’s actually nice to have him in there because he mostly gets made fun of the entire time while throwing in a few one-liners that I giggled at.  Craig Robinson is fantastic.  There’s just something about this guy that when he delivers a line it is almost always funny, except for a couple of times when his jokes just didn’t hit their mark, but I think that was because of the joke itself and not the delivery.  He has one amazing scene where he performs in front of a crowd and I was loving every minute of it.  John Cusack who I thought was going to be out of place is actually perfectly cast.  He’s a great actor and seeing him do some ridiculous shit like eating shrooms and getting wasted was extremely entertaining.  When they travel in time they do some homages to the 80′s comedies he starred in and it’s really funny to watch him poke fun at himself in such a subtle way.  There are also a couple cameos such as Chevy Chase who I wasn’t crazy about but starting laughing at by the end of the film, and Crispin Glover who plays a great supporting role and is the butt of an ongoing joke that never got old.  However, the show is stolen by Mr. Rob Corddry the alcoholic loser of the group.  He is a complete asshole to all his friends almost the entire movie and it’s a role he is perfect for.  I was never a huge fan of him from his past comedies but this one he had me rolling the entire time.  Whether it being hammered in his garage playing air drums in his car or sliding shots down the bar while a chick just watches them break all over, he is ridiculously funny in almost every scene he’s in.  Especially a fight scene near the end where I was nearly in tears.

So, if your in that kind of mood, to watch a flat out hilarious yet outrageous comedy, then I recommend checking out Hot Tub Time Machine when it hits theaters this Friday.  You don’t want to be that guy who missed out on the hit comedy of the year.  Go see it with some friends and I guarantee you have a hell of a time.

It must be some kind of….Hot Tub Time Machine.

It must be stamped…cause it’s MADE!!!!

IMDB: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes: 100%

Moviewiseguys: 8.5/10