Had "Hot Tub Time Machine" come out in 1998, it would probably be on my list of great comedy films. It's stupid. But it has lots of references that make it feel smart and cool.

This is probably the result of the re-pairing of Actor John Cusack and Director Steve Pink. Steve co-wrote Grosse Point Blank and High Fidelity, which are great films that have some of John Cusack's best work. There are some moments in "Hot Tub Time Machine" that are highly influenced by Pink's earlier work.

But for it to come out in 2010, I expected more.

The main characters are a small group of friends in their early 40s. John Cusack's character is named Adam, a walking cliche of every good role John Cusack has ever played in his adult life. We meet him as a relationship is failing, and his girlfriend has moved out.

Just when we think he's going to look at the screen and give a top ten list, we meet his nephew, Jacob, played by Clark Duke. Jacob is a reclusive techie-nerd type.

Adam's friend Nick, played by Craig Robinson, is married to a controlling woman who may/may not have cheated on him,
and Nick is working a dead-end job that he hates. We learn later why his life is so bad.

Their other friend is Lou, played by Rob Corddry, a divorced
alcoholic, who, let's just say...needs to get away. Badly. His
friends come up with a plan. They're going to take him back to the mountain lodge that they had fun in back in 1986. And they're going to bring Adam's nephew with them.

They get to the cabin, and they realize that, like the idea for this
movie, it was better in the '80s than it is today. They meet a one-armed bellhop, played by Crispin Glover. Having Crispin in this movie is tribute enough to "Back To The Future,” but it's not the only 80's movie homage in this film.

So the guys go out to enjoy the hot tub. Which, yes, turns out to be a time machine. It sends the guys back to 1986. In their old bodies and hairstyles.

Since Jacob, wasn't born in 1986, this presents a problem. The guys have to get back to the present day. But to do this, they must do things exactly as they did them in 1986, or, as anyone who's seen "Back To The Future" knows, the future timeline will be forever changed.

And with this, 24 hours of hijinks ensue.

If you had the chance to live your teenage years again, knowing
what you know now, what would you change? This is one of the questions this film raises. We all have our serious answers, and our comedic ones. There are girlfriends or boyfriends we would have chosen to avoid altogether, or perhaps pursued a lot more seriously. We'd like to use the knowledge of future events and inventions. We could all have used a little guidance from "Fletch.”

This movie presses all the right buttons, from Crispin Glover, to the fashion and hairstyle authenticity, to Chevy Chase as a sort of time travel guru/hot tub repairman. Sex jokes. Drugs. Rock & Roll. Sci-fi!

I should have loved this movie. And I wanted to! But its potential is a lot better than its reality. So for me, I just liked it. Did not hate it.

For me, two things ruined it:

1. Rob Corddry was a horrible choice for this movie. He's been in funny stuff before, and he's great, but this role would have been a lot better if played by Steve Zahn or a Seth Rogen type actor. Corddry stood out from this cast in a way that quickly became annoying, which started to amplify other flaws of this picture that I probably wouldn't have noticed if I weren’t trying to escape from Corddry's performance.

2. This script is remarkably dated. I know it's a movie about time travel. But the "current day" scenes are like they're written in, as I said, 1998. The ending could have been great had they taken time to make it a little more 2010 and less "what I think the year 2010 is going to be like.”

Craig Robinson was a great casting choice, and I enjoyed watching him work. There are some scenes where we really get to see his comic timing, and it was really impressive. His character's story was enjoyable. Nick is a black dude who grew up with mostly white friends, yet ends up with a black woman who is not the neck-rolling stereotype we've seen in other movies. She's obviously suburban, and so they are a believable couple.

The saving grace of this film is the romantic storyline involving
John Cusack. It's an ending you’d expect for a movie like this, but the road getting there is really good.

"Hot Tub Time Machine" is a dumb movie. But, with the exception of Rob Corddry's performance, it's a really well done dumb movie. It feels like an old movie that you missed when it came out the first time. Think “The Hangover” meets “Romy & Michelle” meets “Back To The Future.”

Rating: Good. (2 Stars)
Rated R for strong crude and sexual content, nudity, drug use and
pervasive language.
Runtime: 100 min
Distributor: MGM

***

Daryle Lockhart is founder and publisher of TheBlackBoxOffice.com.
 

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