What a gimmick.
That is easily the first thing that comes to mind when the words “hot tub” and “time machine” are jumbled together, seemingly out of some coke-binged writing session by big studios looking to make a quick buck. The movie shows symptoms of such a prognosis at times but never succumbs to the “B-movie” echelon, so let’s dispel that off the bat.
The big thing to remember about this movie is skiing. That is the majority of the background aesthetic: three middle-age bros and a younger dude are transported to the ‘86 Winterfest at Kodiak Valley Ski Resort, a rampant excuse for kids to get wasted and promiscuous, all while under the lull of tunes by glam metal schlock-merchants Poison. Sadly, Bret Michaels does not make a vain attempt at cashing in on his name, or perhaps the Postal Service was smart enough to lose his invitation in the mail.
In terms of story, the film is incredibly solid for a big-budget comedy. While riffing on ‘80s culture and the transformations one goes through from teenage angst to semi-adjusted adulthood, the audience actually roots for these guys because, while they may at times be foul and pathetic, they have legitimate dreams.
John Cusack plays himself, cleverly named Adam while dressed as his immortal Lloyd Dobler (“Say Anything…” if you were born under a rock). His 17-year-old self aspires to be Hunter S. Thompson, replete with a full suitcase of multi-purpose drugs and alcohol. He carries around some serious daddy issues and is destined potential stabbing with plastic cutlery. So, in all, he’s John Cusack.
Craig Robinson, an Apalyte veteran of “Knocked Up” and “Pineapple Express,” is a washed-up, overweight would-be hip-hop impresario, whose one shining moment was a forgettable set during Winterfest. Now he sorts through dog doo and suffers a cheating wife. In 1986, Robinson’s Nick is a skinny lead singer in a band with a Kid N’ Play cut and mad dance moves. He even has groupies. Often his comrades lambaste his hyphenated last name, a result of his demanding wife.
And then there’s Lou, whose appropriate description is unfit to print. Needless to say, he is a failure at life and lives for his childhood days. The first glimpse given is him crashing his Camaro into a garage while drinking cheap gin and blasting Motley Crue. ‘Nuff said. But Lou, played by “Daily Show” alum Rob Corddry, hides a seriously fractured ego under his foul visage and harbors resentment deeper than the Mariana Trench for his friends.
And then there’s Jacob, the comic sidekick who is promised to come-of-age. The film takes off, with his middle-aged uncle (Cusack) and his buddies going off to Kodiak Valley to relive their glory days. Ironically Jacob is the most adult of them all, despite a social life of “Second Life” and porn. When they all fly backward in time, it’s also Jacob’s existence which drives the teams to perform their actions in the manner they originally occurred.
Time travel is a well-traversed theme in Hollywood, going back to Wells’ “Time Machine” and its many adaptations, to the often-referenced “Back to the Future” trilogy, whose Crispin Glover makes a canny cameo in this very film. One of the themes espoused by “Hot Tub Time Machine” is surprisingly astute, given the seemingly ridiculous nature of the name at first glance.
Basically a huge contention and fear in time travel is that of event paradoxes. If an action or event is changed in the past, it can enact a sort of Chaos Effect across time, completely altering the future. In this case, the three older men have a chance to change their sorry state of affairs, but it becomes increasingly obvious that Jacob’s conception and life depend on their actions, thus they must try and stick to the original timeline. Naturally they fail.
While kitsch often ruins films if overused, “Hot Tub Time Machine” gracefully skirts the line between parody and satire. Frequent cameos by the likes of Glover and Billy Zabka of “Karate Kid” could be vainglorious, but they are played to pitch perfection here. And since the best things are often left unspoken, one can only say, “Chevy Chase.”
“Hot Tub Time Machine” takes a premise so farfetched it’s bound to be a rotten egg and instead turns out a little gem. The Academy will not waste its time, and snobs will shy away, but anyone who gives this film a chance will see why it was made in the first place. Modern comedy often fails miserably in satiating the intelligent and ignorant in the audience, either pandering or waxing philosophical to the point of narcissism. Here no one holds their punches, and every laugh is right on time.
5 stars
