Cast: John Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry; Director: Steve Pink; Producers: John Cusack, Grace Lo, Matt Moore, John Morris; Screenwriters: Josh Heald, Sean Anders, John Morris; Music: Christophe Beck; Editor: George Fosley, Jr., James Thomas: Genre: Comedy; Cinematography: Jack N. Green; Distributor: Metr0-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM); Running Time: 100 min.;Technical Assessment: 2
Moral Assessment: 1.5
CINEMA Rating: For mature viewers 18 and above
Former best friends Adam (John Cusack), Nick (Craig Robinson) and Lou (Rob Corddy) have lost touch over the years. They reunite when Lou is hospitalized for an accidental poisoning. Adam and Nick show up to make sure that Lou does not commit suicide. For old time’s sake and to give themselves a break, they embark on a trip to the ski resort that holds most of their memories as teenage friends. They also bring along Adam’s Geeky nephew Jacob (Clark Duke). There, they pursue their old version of fun – sex, drugs and alcohol. Their wild night ends up in a slope-side hot tub and its malfunctioning magically brings them back to 1986. Much to their surprise, they are back in their teenage bodies as well.
Hot Tub Time Machine looks as tired as its premise. As with the characters in the film who have become tired old men, the film has nothing but tired old jokes: toilet humor, sexual overtones, and profanities are all over the place. In theory, the story seems hilarious and promises bunch of laughs and a degree of 1980’s nostalgia. But the execution does not come up believable nor exciting. For those who can relate to the era, some scenes may be appealing and can bring out some laughs here and there but are never enough to sustain the movie’s supposedly comedic feel. The casts come out strong though. Cusack, Corddry and Robinson make a solid comic team. But with this old and mediocre material, their talent has been put to waste.
Looking at the film in larger context, it is supposed to talk about life’s second chances. If men could only live their lives all over again, they would make far better choices so they can live far better lives. It could’ve been an inspiring turning point in the movie if it did not dwell too much on the scatological humor, rough and crude language, graphic casual sex, profanities and nudity. Friendship is also given emphasis in the film but it remained in a quite shallow level for their concept of fun is more destructive than productive. The younger audiences are supposed to learn a lot from the movie’s middle-aged characters who grew up seeing themselves as failures due to the wrong choices they made when they are still young. However, much of the film’s content – sex, drugs, alcohol, violence and gore, is not suitable to the very young audiences with impressionable minds for they may be influenced by the film’s morally disturbing values.
