- Hot Tub Time Machine Bluray Cover - Courtesy Fox Home Video, 2010
In this silly send up of 1980s kitchy fashion and music, three grown men and one of their nephews end up going back in time 24 years, due to an accidental spill on the controls of a ski resort suite's hot tub.
Hot Tub Time Machine Brief Synopsis
The year is 2010, and three lifelong friends are leading less than ideal lives. Adam (John Cusack, 2012) has just ended yet another failed relationship, and is now living in a near-empty house with his nephew Jacob (Clark Duke, Kick Ass) hiding in the basement playing The Sims for days on end.
Lou (Rob Corddry, Semi Pro) never stopped partying, and still likes to rock an unhealthy lifestyle, while Nick (Craig Robinson, Zack and Miri Make a Porno) is stuck in a lousy job at a pet spa, forced to perform humiliating tasks such as removing car keys from dogs' butts. Also, his wife's cheating on him.
When it's discovered that Lou has suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from revving his car inside his garage, his friends assume the worst and opt to take him out to their old hangout at the Kodiak Valley Ski Resort. Once a booming bastion of partydom, the resort is now a decrepit and failing business.
Refusing to linger on the poor state of their favorite 80s getaway destination, the three friends (with Jacob in tow) head out to Kodiak Valley, and rent the same old room they've always used, assisted by the resort's one-armed bellboy (Crispin Glover, Back to the Future).
The boys discover that their balcony comes with a disaffected hot tub, currently housing a small family of critters. One clean up later, and the boys embark on a wild night of crazy drinking, including a can of a powerful energy drink called Chernobly. A spill onto the tub's controls sends the crew spinning into a vortex, where they awake on a clear sunny winter morning in 1986.
At first unaware of their chronological whereabouts (they think there's an 80s theme going on that weekend), it doesn't take long for the guys to realize their plight, upon noticing the interminable sea of Jheri Curls, Day Glo clothes, leg warmers and cassette players. Ergo, welcome to 1986.
Scrambling to find out how this happened and how to get back to their own time, Adam, Lou, Nick and Jacob make a pact promising not to disturb the timeline, lest they irreparably change history. Of course, said weekend originally turned out to be a pivotal moment in their young lives.
Temptation may be too strong for these guys to decide to improve their own futures, or in Jacob's case, ensuring he has one at all, as he figures out he was conceived that very weekend.
Hot Tub Time Machine Overall Analysis
One doesn't need to reach too far to understand the concept behind this film. It's not exactly high brow, and its similarity to classic early 80s flicks like Hot Dog: The Movie, Ski Patrol and Porky's should give viewers an idea of what they're getting into.
Anyone born around the time man walked on the moon or shortly thereafter, will immediately associate with the barrage of 80s references, from early MTV commercials to Miami Vice T-Shirts. There's even a Poison concert at the resort during the course of the movie.
The movie's goal is to examine how we each re-examine our past mistakes every now and then, and wish we'd had a chance to go back and right a wrong, or make a pivotal decision which would improve our future. In fact, the very gimmick that Adam, Nick and Lou see themselves in the mirror as their teen selves is evocative of the Quantum Leap TV show of the late 80s, where Scott Bakula time-traveled into other peoples' bodies, in order to change their lives for the better.
Cusack, himself a staple of 1980s culture (who can forget his iconic pose holding a ghetto blaster over his head, pining over Ione Skye in Say Anything ?), seems to take a back seat in this film, frequently getting upstaged by his much more energetic castmates.
Though the former Grosse Pointe Blank star does have some funny moments, he's the dramatic anchor of the film, finding a chance to meet a lovely music journalist (Lizzy Caplan). All the same, he's not at the top of his game here, and comes off feeling out of place, compared to his past manic characters.
Craig Robinson and Rob Corddry get all the best lines this time around, while Clark Duke provides yet another variation of his late teen Zen cool as seen in Superbad. A one note performance, but a memorable one.
Look for appearances by the aforementioned Crispin Glover (the origin of his arm loss is a running gag in the film) Chevy Chase (Caddyshack) as the mystical yet cynical hot tub repair man, and a cameo by former blond coiffed Karate Kid villain William Zabka.
Hot Tub Time Machine Bluray Extras
Fox has been providing a digital copy with their blurays for quite a while, and Hot Tub's no different. Also, look for a few short bits on the challenge of finding over a thousand dated outfits for extras to wear. the rest of the mini extras have the feel of those pre-show teasers seen on screen as ads prior to a cineplex movie, and are easily forgettable.
The Final Word on Hot Tub Time Machine
This is your typical simplistic weekend comedy rental. The filmmakers are clearly having fun with the retro theme, and hope to bring in their Gen-X peers in on the joke. It works like a charm, just as long as you don't go hoping for too much.
Note: The Bluray Disc contains the Unrated and Theatrical versions. Let your hair down and go for the Unrated version. .
Hot Tub Time Machine: 3 out of 5
Dominic Messier - Dominic Messier is a Toronto-based Film & TV freelance writer and resident Sci-Fi TV and Film Dramas Topic Editor with Suite101.
