Genre: Comedy
Director: Steve Pink
Cast: John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Lizzy Caplan, Chevy Chase, Craig Robinson, Sebastian Stan, Crispin Glover, Clark Duke, Lyndsy Fonseca
RunTime: 1 hr 40 mins
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language and Sexual Scenes)
Official Website: http://www.kicksomepast.com/

Opening Day: 15 July 2010

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:

Would this film even exist without the runaway success of “The Hangover”? Probably not. And sure, it follows the same footprints of men-being-morons mentality and thankfully delivers largely on its promise of utter stupidity in the face of logic and reason. But in essence, its true template is Adam Sandler's divisive “Click”, weaving together a specious sci-fi premise together with an uncommon heart and blunt truths on adulthood. It's the filmic equivalent of the inevitable and unanswerable question: “Where did it all go wrong?”

Anchored by two standout performances by Rob Corddry and Craig Robinson from “The Office”, “Hot Tub Time Machine” cruises by just on the chemistry of its cast alone. John Cusack returns to his 80s roots here as Adam, an unhappily married schmuck who decides to follow his two other unhappy schmuck friends and his nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) back to the site of the happiest time of their lives, an old ski resort that's now decrepit and serviced by a dour one-armed bellman (Crispin Glover) who leads them to their old room with the titular hot tub. How did he lose that arm, you might ask. Well, it gets answered. And then some.

The hot tub, now existing in 2010 as a stew of mold, animal carcasses, sewerage and a general wormhole 25 years into the past is fixed by a ambiguously curt repairman (Chevy Chase) who plays the role of overseer of the time machine, much like Christoper Walken did in “Click”. The guys jump in and they are off to their adventure back in time, and back into their bodies at the greatest time of their lives. Except for Jacob of course, who wasn't born yet and remains in danger of fading out as the constant reminder of the perils of the butterfly effect – any changes, no matter how small, will have an impact in the future. This is no easy feat when each man is made to re-evaluate the decisions of their lives during this fateful vacation. Do they break up with that annoying but sexy girlfriend? Do they face up to the bully that tormented them? Is it wrong to cheat on a wife you haven't married yet? And why is my mom such a slut?

It's this balancing act of its high-concept premise and low-brow humour that sustains the film's earnest foray into its post-modern exploration of quintessentially 80s teenage movie tropes made popular by John Hughes and transforms into a wish-fulfillment fantasy for men of a certain age. The script is self-reflexively clever when it understands its role in the grand scheme of things, especially when it starts introducing iconic pop-culture tidbits and kitschy reminders of a decade that in retrospect wasn't that great but sure provided an awesome soundtrack to the rest of our lives.


Movie Rating:

(Thoroughly entertaining fare, Cusack et al delivers a consistently funny stupid-smart comedy)

Review by Justin Deimen