Movie Review #33 Hot Tube Time Machine

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Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) John Cusack, Craig Robinson Directed by Steve Pink

The second good solid comedy of 2010 (and my 2^nd comedy review in row) is Hot Time Tub Machine. The title would suggest that this movie was an easy pitch to the MGM suits…so we have a comedy that will let us pick on the 80’s (such an easy decade to pick on), there is time travel (Hollywood loves twin brothers and time travel…any pitch with one or both of those is a no-brainer), and we have John Cusack (good or bad everyone loves the Say Anything and Better Off Dead guy). And so it was, Hot Tub Time Machine got the fast track to theaters, probably without anyone ever reading a script or considering where they would get all those fluorescent hot pants or alligator polo’s. Taking all that into consideration…I liked this movie, it was the kind of brain-dead film that works well on a date or just to kill time until the next March Madness game.

Hot Tub Machine is the story of three late forty-something guys who are disappointed with their adult lives, and are visited by a mystical Chevy Chase (yes the very same Chevy Chase your thinking of) who opens a gateway to the past (via um…a hot tub…don’t over think it). So Adam (played by a very sad looking John Cusack…probably sad because he finally watched 2012 and thought…what was I thinking there?) is the center of the story. Lou (played by Daily Show alum Rob Corddry) is the break-out funny guy in the film (a la the bearded Zach Galifianakis from The Hangover), and Nick (probably the best acting in the film, played by Parks & Recreation guy Craig Robinson) is the heart of the story. These three ex-best friends go back in time to make fun of Poison and Cassette tape players, while also trying to figure out why they are there, and what they can change to make their futures better. Crispon Glover shows up as a one-armed man (which is lazy comedy…but still funny) and a very pretty Lizzy Caplan briefly shows up as the only cool person in the 80’s. So the movie has some good laughs, it has a splash of heart, and some hot tub sex…if you add those up it’s hard to give this movie a bad review so I won’t, I actually recommend Hot Tub Time Machine, whether you go out and see it in theaters or wait for the DVD, this film is just what you would expect…given its title…mindless, harmless comedy.

(The Shawshank Scale 1-10) So Red Dawn-obsessed teens, leg warmers, and Ronald Reagan (I can’t be the only guy who thinks having him on Mt. Rushmore would be hilarious right??…am I??) all add up to a serviceable 6.0 on the Shawshank Scale…check it out!

Food For Thought: I had a Dulce/Vanilla/Coffee milk shake, which was straight awesomeness. Up next for Cusack is a WWII movie called Shanghai, and for Break-Out star Rob Corddry there is Cedar Rapids out later this year that will team him up with fellow Daily Show Alum Ed Helms (seen more recently in The Hangover).