Review: "Hot Tub Time Machine" - 4/5/10

(Ooooo...bubbles)

I’m sure no one in the academic community this side of Hawking could have imagined discovering a wormhole anywhere beyond the limits of the vast sucking regions of nether space, yet alone a jacuzzi at the Kodiak Valley Ski Resort. But then again, Hawking probably doesn’t find the time to party like it’s 1986 either.

For those of us who still carry a special flame for Crispin Glover, Chuck Berry covers or the Hill Valley courthouse clocktower, this newest farce on general relativity may seem unnecessary but, with a new decade and a new year on the table, a welter of possibilities seems within our insatiable grasp. Allowing ourselves to finally feel nostalgic about a decade defined by more neon than a Highlighter factory is one of those possibilities. The boys of New Crime Productions felt the same way at least.

It’s hard to believe, now in 2010, that it’s been more than twenty years since the 80's. Hell, I wasn't even born until '87. Time does indeed battle the lift-to-drag ratio (e.g. flies). It certainly would seem to be a sentiment that the three musketeers of this escapade all share. Adam (Cusack) is busy taking inventory of his failed relationships one “mine/yours” sticker at a time. Nick (Robinson) is busy wiping the asses of his customers and their dogs at a pet spa. And Lou (Cordry), is busy trying not to…well….die from his excessive Bluto-esque partying. So when the crew—plucking Adam’s nerdy nephew Jacob (Duke) in the process—finally decides that it's time to reignite their waning lust for life at a resort town buried deep in the California Mountains and their memories, something is bound to give right?

As you might guess from any promotional buzz, the sheer ridiculousness of the scenario is almost enough to warrant pity for those of us either careless or stupid enough to fall for this trap which screams bottom-of-the-barrel feature of the week. BUT (and there always is one), that look that Craig Robinson shoots at us, with that knowing Twilight Zone pause after he acknowledges the existence of *gulp* a hot tub time machine, we know that the premise is like a kamikaze attack on our logic. It’s just so crazy that, dammit man, it just might work!

A solid mix of vulgar corniness, smarmy physical humor and a dash of culture clash lend to a surprisingly potent feel-good sensibility which carries the movie in ways that shouldn't work but do. Perhaps it’s Mr. Cordry’s charmingly fugly bravado. Maybe it’s the celeb cameos and the impulsiveness to which its aging heroes aspire. Or perhaps it’s the ubiquitous squirrel that somehow keeps coming back to haunt the queasy quartet in their excellent adventure. Who knows?

All I’m sure of is that its fun. A lot more fun than I would have guessed. And as far as “second-chance-scenarios” go in movies—for all of its nods to bodacious trips to yesteryears gone—it doesn’t peddle that Bradbury timeline junk. In fact, quite the opposite. Maybe it’s the fresh fumes of a new decade or maybe it’s just us wishing we could go back to simpler times to capitalize on all of the crap that should have been so obvious to us in the first place, but there's an overriding assumption about the fixity of our lives that director Steve Pink—a frequent Cusack collaborator---doesn’t want to buy into. So, if you’re ready for something slightly disposable but totally worthwhile, you might consider dropping your shorts and taking a brief dip. The water’s just right.

Best when seen with your gang (preferably of misfits and rejects), whomever that might be. It’ll be a nice little bonding experience that should send you off into the night with a smile and an itch that might only be cured with a healthy dose of debauchery. Hopefully most will be happy with just the smile.