“If I wanted to kill myself, I'd fucking kill myself. I'd be awesome at it. A shotgun to the dick.”
The Story:
After crashing into his garage in a drunken stupor, Lou (Rob Cordry), AKA "the violator" attempts to commit suicide by mashing his gas pedal to the bass drum beat of Motley Crue's hair classic, Home Sweet Home and inhaling the fumes between slugs of vodka. He awakens in the hospital where all his buddies have gathered to inform him they're taking him on a trip to Kodiak Valley, their old ski spot where they got mucho ass back in the eighties. Ready to rock, Lou pulls out his catheter and checks himself out. His boys, Adam (John Cusack) and Nick (Craig Robinson) are also struggling in their personal lives. Along with nerdy Jacob (Clarke Duke), Adam's nephew, they arrive at a now-dumpy K-Vals to awkwardly rekindle their dying friendships and get loaded. While drinking in the hot tub, an illegal can of Russian energy drink is spilled in the circuits and sends them back in time (with a little help from a mythical Chevy Chase!) to 1986... and Poison live in the snow!
After crashing into his garage in a drunken stupor, Lou (Rob Cordry), AKA "the violator" attempts to commit suicide by mashing his gas pedal to the bass drum beat of Motley Crue's hair classic, Home Sweet Home and inhaling the fumes between slugs of vodka. He awakens in the hospital where all his buddies have gathered to inform him they're taking him on a trip to Kodiak Valley, their old ski spot where they got mucho ass back in the eighties. Ready to rock, Lou pulls out his catheter and checks himself out. His boys, Adam (John Cusack) and Nick (Craig Robinson) are also struggling in their personal lives. Along with nerdy Jacob (Clarke Duke), Adam's nephew, they arrive at a now-dumpy K-Vals to awkwardly rekindle their dying friendships and get loaded. While drinking in the hot tub, an illegal can of Russian energy drink is spilled in the circuits and sends them back in time (with a little help from a mythical Chevy Chase!) to 1986... and Poison live in the snow!
The Review:
Hot Tub Time Machine is a perfect eighties throwback film, mimicking the heart, atmosphere, styles, music and off the wall insanity of the classiest decade of teen films. It also creates a stunning quandary; how can a teenage Jacob exist when he hadn't even been born yet? Before they can get to that, the crew must get in touch with their adolescent selves and live in their former shoes with all their old friends, girls and enemies, including an American patriot ski patrol who believes them to be commies after his discovery of another can of the Russian drink.
10 out of a possible 10 inches.
Lou, Jacob, Adam and Nick blend flawlessly, each bringing a unique twist to crazy scenario after crazy scenario, all hoping to right some wrongs or simply relive themselves at their most hopeful time. Jacob (an expert in Stargate fan fiction) warns them not to much with time travel, but at times the temptation is too much. Adam's story is the strongest (fittingly, since Cusack puts on the most emotional performance) as he must come to grips with the questionable dumping of his long lost love, his "great white buffalo" if you will, all over again. Which just happens to involve him getting stabbed in the eye with a fork.
Lou must battle the ski patrol who humbled him in a fight and Nick takes this time to call his future wife (who is only a child at this point) and berates her over the phone in a hilarious scene. Triumphing past tragedies and making some even worse, everyone finds themselves down before realizing that their friendships are oftentimes all they've really had. Performances and dialogue are fittingly real and other than a story involving a past quarrel in Cincinnati (which is probably best left unsaid), the plot makes about as much sense as a time traveling, teen, broken-down adult comedy could. Visually, this isn’t another boring ass comedy to gaze at. The cinematography is vibrant, invigorating and expansive; one of the best looking comedies ever. Standing up to repeat viewings as well as any, this Hot Tub will stand the test of time. Be sure to stick around for the best end credits sequence of all time. (Brett H.)
Tale of the Tape:
10 out of a possible 10 inches.
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