Get together...
Join our forums...
Fire your imagination...
Tell your friends...
Indulge yourself...
Log-in / Register
Take time out and find some inspiration
Hot Tub Time Machine - Movie Review
Hailed by some as the comedy of the year, Hot Tub Time Machine sees Adam (John Cusack), his nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) and pals Nick (Craig Robinson) and Lou (Rob Corddry) head on a vacation to the ski resort they enjoyed the trip of a lifetime at in 1986. When they hit the hot tub to reminisce… you can probably guess the rest. Faith Brotherston and Andrew Sheldrick report back:
Faith says:
Oi, John Cusack. What were you thinking? Usually, Mr C tends to pick pretty decent projects, but this, this travesty, this dreadful approximation, which presumably aimed to cross The Hangover with Back To The Future and fell well short of the mark, was a bad choice. BAD.
I think the title says it all. Nothing called Hot Tub Time Machine is going to blaze a trail and sweep the red carpet clean at The Oscars. Granted, there are a couple of laughs – I can’t give the second one away as it would ‘ruin’ the end; although maybe I should, save you the £8 admission and the embarrassment of having watched it – but the focus in Steve Pink’s comedy is more crass toilet humour and far too much bad language than clever twists and turns in the ‘plot’.
I’m sure this was great fun for the cast to film. I went to see it willingly, thinking it sounded like a hilarious romp. I only started sighing about seven minutes in. Basically, it could have been so much better – the quirky idea of a time-travelling hot tub that transports you back to your youth and enables you to relive memories and inevitably change your future for the better is one that sounds entertaining and appealing.
It’s not though, it’s 90 minutes of your life you’ll never get back.
Andrew says:
Faith absolutely knocks it on the head with her description of Hot Tub Time Machine as a somewhat flawed mix of The Hangover and Back To The Future. I’d also like to throw Porky’s and Bachelor Party into the mix, as for me at least it was the tonality of those classic Eighties ‘sex’ comedies that HTTM was really striving for. And it manages it to an extent, because if you’re looking for something rude and crude you’ll not be left disappointed.
Personally I spent most of the Eighties in nappies and denim romper-suits, so at no point did Hot Tub Time Machine serve as an exercise in nostalgia. As a result many of the jokes fell a little flat for me, however for those of a certain age who can forgive the era for all its fashion faux pas and musical atrocities there’s definitely fun to be had.
In comedies such as this, the cast can pretty much make or break it. Much like Faith I’m a big fan of John Cusack, however while clearly having fun himself I much preferred his more laconic and subtle turns in High Fidelity and Gross Pointe Blank (both early collaboration’s with HTTM’s director Steve Pink). The clear stars of the show are Craig Robinson and Rob Corddry, who effortlessly steal every scene they’re in together. Be warned, on occasion their humour is so lowbrow it positively scrapes the floor.
In the film’s favour it has no false illusions of grandeur, and as such delivers exactly what it sets out to – bums, boobs and buffoonery. Whether that appeals depends on whether you find adding your own bubbles to a hot tub funny.
About the author
Name: Faith Brotherston
Email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Share |
Think you can inspire thought and discussion? If you've got an article which you would like to submit just contact us.