Hot Tub Time Machine
I could sit here carping about every ’80s flick and fad this movie rips on (and off), or I could just say what everyone I’ve heard has been saying. This is one f-ing funny flick. It’s another example of “Hangover”-Apatow arrested development for the immature in all adult males, but it hits the funny bone so much you can’t help but think it’s one of the best.
The setup is simple- Adam (John Cusack) just got dumped, Nick (Craig Robinson) is married and long past his passion for music, and Lou (Rob Corddry), well, Lou is about ready to end it all. That’s when the three- and Adam’s nephew Jacob (Clark Duke)- go for a wild weekend at a rundown ski resort to recapture their lost rebellion and youth.
From there, well, you probably know by now (or at least just by reading the title). Like any good time travel comedy, the point is for these guys to get right what they didn’t when they were young. That means taking a chance at love with someone you don’t know (namely, with Lizzy Caplan’s down-for-it rock columnist), getting back on that stage and doing what you love, and standing up for yourself and banging that hot girl, even if she is Adam’s sister (Collette Wolfe).
But director Steve Pink (“Accepted”), who also co-wrote two of his star/producer’s best films (that would be Cusack’s “Grosse Pointe Blank” and “High Fidelity”), delivers the goods on a script by Sean Anders, Josh Heald, and John Morris that goes through all of the motions we expect of this film, but gives the leads (and a supporting cast that includes a priceless Crispin Glover as a one-armed bellhop) plenty of wiggle room to strut their stuff, whether it’s the everyguy qualities of Cusack, the nutty and dry Corddry, and the bombastic and subtle funny by Robinson. These three kept me laughing the whole way through. And hopeful that if I were to turn back time, maybe I could cause a chain reaction that could lead to my Cleveland Browns making the Super Bowl. You’ll see what I mean.
