Movie Review: Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), a Hilarious Trip Back to the 80s

Three middle-aged guys, Adam (John Cusack), Nick (Craig Robinson) and Lou (Rob Corddry) have been friends since they were young. They have drifted apart over the years and now live in different parts of Los Angeles. Each of them is disappointed with their lives. Adam gets dumped by his girlfriend, Nick has an awful job (pet proctologist) with a cheating wife, and Lou is an alcoholic who hates everyone. Lou tries to commit suicide and is admitted into the hospital.

They all decide to revisit their 80's hangout at the Kodiak Valley Ski Resort. The 3 miscreants, along with Jacob (Clark Duke), Adam's nerdy nephew, who lives in his basement, journey there. They are very disappointed to find the Kodiak Valley Ski Resort rundown and in shambles. Finally, they all just decide to get into the hot tub outside their room and get drunk.

The next day they are all shocked to find out they have traveled back in time to 1986. Adam, Nick and Lou are in their own younger bodies and Jacob flickers between solid and translucent because he has not been born yet. An old hot tub repairman (Chevy Chase) needs parts to repair the hot tub and warns them that they should do everything exactly the same way they did 20 years previously or it could disrupt the time continuum.

Adam wants to find out why he dumped his girlfriend and got stabbed in the head with a fork back in 1986. Nick wants to relive his days with his band but also feels guilty to be with other women while still married in the future. Lou wants to avoid the fight he had then and tried to make a profit with his knowledge of the past. Jacob wants to make sure he is born and finds a shocking revelation about his real father.

All of the guys need to relive past events and, in the process, learn more about their pasts themselves, all the while wanting to get back to the present.

Hot Tub Time Machine is a raunchy, vulgar comedy that is a bit more extreme than Beerfest, along the lines of Clerks 2, making this a medium level vulgarity. It's definitely not suited for children, strictly adults. It is rated R for "strong crude and sexual content, nudity, drug use and pervasive language." There is very little nudity but a bit of drugs and tons of cursing and sexual situations.

When I first saw the trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine, I thought it looked interesting and funny but I was not in any rush to see it. I figured it would be funny and raunchy, like many other movies of its type. My nurse wanted to see it, so I finally got the movie. We expected an immature, funny movie with some bad language but it turned out to be a bit raunchier and cruder with a lot more bad language.

Now, don't get me wrong, the crude humor, scenes and bad language didn't bother me in the slightest, well, except that I watched Hot Tub Time Machine with my nurse (she's young and it didn't bother her too much) and my mother, which made some scenes awkward to watch. So, a word of warning: DO NOT WATCH WITH PARENTS or older and/or less open-minded people. And definitely, don't allow children and young teens to see it.

I enjoyed Hot Tub Time Machine for what it was. It was a fun movie but not one which I would want to rewatch again any time soon. Others will probably find the whole movie hilariously fun but I only laughed out loud a few times and chuckled a few more times -- maybe every other joke hit my funny bone. Still, it did provide me with enough humor to satisfy my comedy needs for this 99 minute movie, making it not a totally wasted (no pun intended) time.

I was surprised to see John Cusack in this movie because it's like a step down to a much earlier point in his career but I guess he likes to mix it up a bit with his roles from time to time. Cusack says he decided to join the cast almost entirely based on the title. I'm not sure if he means Hot Tub Time Machine or the original title, Bulldogs, a title which makes no sense to me. Cusack does a good job in the role of Adam, a somewhat insecure character with a sarcastic humor and serious side at times, not unlike that of any of his characters from the 80s.

Craig Robinson plays a hilarious black guy (just to be descriptive) in the character of Nick that reminds me of the late Bernie Mac with their very sarcastic humor and loud yelling at times.

Rob Corddry is great as the pessimistic character, Lou, who has a huge chip on his shoulder. Lou probably drinks lot because he feels like his whole life was a failure and wants to change things with a second chance at life.

Clark Duke is the quintessential nerd-type in his character, Jacob. He basically sits at his computer in his uncle's basement all day playing Second Life because his real life is almost nonexistent. I don't really like dorky characters because I find them funny but also pitiful at the same time. But Duke performs the role perfectly, which only adds to the humor of this movie. His character provides a somewhat more high-tech, young outlook of life compared to his middle-aged characters which provides a broader range of humor that most 16-45 year olds alike can relate to.

Chevy Chase is funny in his usual dry style of humor as the old repairman. His career seems almost dead but I guess he still is trying to hang on to his 80s glory with bit parts like this.

Look out for Crispin Glover as Phil, the present day one-armed doorman and 80s thrill seeker doorman who likes to juggle chainsaws. This makes for a recurring morbid joke as the main characters anticipate seeing Phil lose his arm like they saw him in the future.

Hot Tub Time Machine is a comedy but there are layers of seriousness just below the characters' humorous and sarcastic personalities that make the characters more believable and likable.

Overall, Hot Tub Time Machine is a good (not great) raunchy comedy for fans of those types of movies. If you don't like those types of movies, Hot Tub Time Machine is definitely not for you. If you want a fun time and don't mind some gross humor and bad language, Hot Tub Time Machine is a definite must-see!

Rating: 3/5

Quotes

Adam: Why do you waste your time with that second-life bullsh*t? Look at you. You're still in jail. You were in jail last week.
Jacob: Yeah, I'm a prisoner. It's called "doing hard time".
Adam: Can't you be like a warrior or shaman or orc or some sh*t like that?

Jacob: You don't think it's weird a bunch of guys just piling up in a big bath tub together?
Lou: It's called male bonding ok, haven't you even seen Wild Hogs?

Jacob: I've dated a lot of girls, hot ones.
Lou: You've dated a lot of guys, gay ones.

Adam: One little change has a ripple effect and it effects everything else. Like a butterfly floats its wings and Tokyo explodes or there's a tsunami, in like, you know, somewhere.
Jacob: Yes exactly. You step on the bug and the f*ing internet is never invented.
Lou: Oh then you'll have to talk to girls with your mouth.
Jacob: Yeah. No. I was more concerned about bigger consequences like not being born.
Lou: Yeah. No. I don't care about that.

Nick: Excuse me, Miss. What color is Michael Jackson?
Girl: Black?