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SYNOPSIS: "Hot
Tub Time Machine" 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 can't find the party; Nick's (Craig Robinson) wife
controls his every move; and video game-obsessed Jacob (Clark
Duke) won't leave his basement. After a crazy night of drinking
in a ski resort hot tub, the men wake up, heads pounding,
in the year 1986. This is their chance to kick some past and
change their futures - one will find a new love life, one
will learn to stand up for himself with the ladies, one will
find his mojo, and one will make sure he still exists!
MOVIE
REVIEW:
"Hot
Tub Time Machine" for a start might strike a chord in
the hearts of many men. When you reached the age of 40 &
beyond and you begin to wonder what aspect of your life would
you changed if you can turn back time? This perhaps is the
best lesson you can learnt from this absurd comedy amidst
all the swearing, boozing and crazy sex.
Three men-child, Adam (John Cusack), Nick
(Craig Robinson), Lou (Rob Corddry) and Adam’s nephew,
Jacob (Clark Duke) embarked on a trip to a ski-resort which
they once got together and have a blast of a time back in
1986, supposedly to reclaim some of the lost mojo and more
importantly to cheer up Lou who earlier had encountered an
freak accident in his own garage. Despite the place being
so shabby 24 years later, the foursome managed to enjoy a
night of boozing and hot-tubbing and magically being transported
back in time and into their younger selves the day after.
What
follows is a series of gross-out routines as the foursome
or threesome as technically Jacob wasn’t born yet tries
to find a way to get back to the present without triggering
the so-called 'butterfly effect'. In this aspect, they must
trace back and promised to follow the routines they did in
1986. Adam must break-off with his girlfriend, Nick having
sex with a girl while Lou gets punched by an overzealous resort
guard. By now I’m sure you know things aren’t
going the way they had planned.
Like
all raunchy comedies, "Hot Tub Time Machine" offers
plenty of unnecessary nudity, gross humour and genuine guffaws
offered by Craig Robinson’s Nick. One of his best lines
includes a reference to the late Michael Jackson and a laugh-out
loud phone call to his then nine year old wife for cheating
on him. Probably the break-out performance comes from Rob
Corddry. Lou is a pathetic character; he is sleazy, crude,
alcoholic and a loser in all aspects. Surprisingly, Corddry
manages to turn him into a likeable misfit that you can’t
help but root for him in the end.
The always classy offbeat John Cusack however
has a hard time keeping up with his two other onscreen pals
being in this low-brow comedy. His longtime pal, director
Steve Pink succeeds in keeping up the slapstick factor though
at times the narrative and structure comes across as haphazardly
assembled as compare to a Judd Apatow or Todd Philips’
production.
In
one of the running gags in the movie, Crispin Glover (McFly’s
dad in Back to the Future) turns up as a one-armed bellboy
that truly cranks out the laughs and shivers whenever he appears.
Probably as a tribute to his popularity in the '80s, comedian
Chevy Chase makes a rare screen appearance as the mysterious
hot tub repairman.
The
financially bankrupt MGM might not be able to afford the DeLorean
for a time machine. Hey at least the hot tub bubbles, shimmers
and glows. If you are a fan of vulgar comedy and not really
picky about time travel logics, "Hot Tub Time Machine"
could be just your best bet this weekend.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Nil
AUDIO/VISUAL:
This
DVD only comes with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack though
it is good enough to listen with much clarity the ridiculous
amount of F words that is peppered in every sentence and the
80’s infused soundtrack. There are no visible artifacts
to smear your viewing pleasure especially ahem…the naked
human anatomy.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
Posted on 26 August 2010
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