Thursday, April 15, 2010
Hot Tub Time Machine is a movie you want to rent — don’t waste your money to see it at the theater. Yes, it’s funny, and yes it has a somewhat star-studded cast, but, just rent it.
Anticipated as the next The Hangover, Hot Tub Time Machine fails to deliver. Instead, you are greeted with a time-traveling spoof that harbors good intentions and moral lessons on life and friendship, but is severely buried in the ridiculously and inappropriately obscene character of Lou (Rob Corddry) also known as “The Violator.” After walking out of the theater, I actually felt violated by his character. Lou is accompanied by Adam (John Cusack), the recently single middle-aged man who doesn’t know what his next move is, Nick Webber (Craig Robinson, "The Office"), the has-been rock star who is whole-heartedly dedicated to his wife, and Jacob (Clark Duke), the twenty-something loner who is Adam’s nephew and housemate.
Like all time-traveling movies, TV shows, books, etc., the story begins in the present. The characters are established, and after an incident involving Lou, the three friends (and awkward nephew) reunite to relive a weekend in Kodiak Valley — the hallmark place of their youth. Much to their dismay, the once booming mountain town is in economic ruin. Nonetheless, they plan to make the most out of it.
Then they find the seemingly normal hot tub. They drink, get wasted, freaky music and flashes of the past race across the screen, and bam!, welcome to 1986.
Deciding that the repercussions of the butterfly effect far outweigh their immediate desires to change history and themselves, the three friends set out to relive one epic weekend exactly as it has happened before. Of course that would be boring to watch, and so, misadventures and shenanigans ensue.
Guys may enjoy the topless girls, crass language, and excessive vomit, but girls, if you really want to see this movie, I’m telling you, you’re not going to like it. I will admit there were the occasional witty lines and nostalgia for 80s music, but like I said before, this movie is a rental at best.
— One out of four stars
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