Hot Tub Time Machine

Dir: Steve Pink

2010

***

Hot Tub Time Machine was the last United Artists' film to be distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, not quite the swan-song they would have hoped for but then no studio ends on a high note. That said, Hot Tub Time Machine isn’t all that bad. I have to confess, it was the title and John Cusack that got me interested, which was interesting when I read that John Cusack stated in an interview  that he made his decision to join the cast almost entirely based off of the title. The story is about three estranged, and somewhat depressed friends. Adam Yates (John Cusack) is dumped by his girlfriend, Nick Webber-Agnew (Craig Robinson) is a henpecked husband with a dead-end job and Lou Dorchen (Rob Corddry) is an embarrassment as a party animal in his 40s. They reconnect when Lou is hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning. To cheer him up, Adam and Nick arrange for Lou to join them at Kodiak Valley Ski Resort, where the three enjoyed fun times in their youth; Adam's reclusive nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) tags along, presumably because Duke is quite funny, as his character makes little sense in the scheme of story. During a night of heavy drinking in their hotel room's hot tub, the four douse the console with an illegal Russian energy drink called "Chernobly". The next day, the friends go skiing and, after many strange occurrences (1980s fashion, music videos on MTV and Michael Jackson still being black), they realize they have traveled back to 1986. Adam, Lou and Nick have also assumed their younger bodies: they appear normal to each other, but to others (and in their reflections) they look like their younger selves. Jacob's appearance has not changed, though he occasionally flickers. A cryptic hot tub repairman (played by Chevy Chase) appears and warns them not to change anything, as it might affect history. To minimize the butterfly effect, the guys plan to re-enact their experiences. Adam has to break up with his girlfriend Jenny and get stabbed in the eye with a fork; Lou must pick a fight with and get beaten up by Blaine, a ski patrol bully; Nick must have sex with a groupie and give a poor performance with his band at an open mic event. They discover Jacob's alcoholic mother Kelly, Adam's sister, is also at the resort. The guys find their tasks difficult; Lou gets punched to the floor by Blaine and loses his backpack, but realizes he must face him again later at night, so he reluctantly challenges Blaine again. Adam finds his attraction to Jenny reignited, but is distracted when he meets laid-back music journalist April during the resort's Poison concert. Nick worries about cheating on his wife, even though the events occur before he even meets her. Later on, Lou tries to capitalize on his knowledge of football game outcomes; it works until he risks everything on a game-winning touchdown, only to have a squirrel from the resort (which he vomited on earlier) crash the field and ruin the play. Jenny turns the tables on Adam when she initiates their breakup, but Adam soon re-encounters April; they break into a nearby home and become intimate. Nick changes his destiny by covering the more upbeat "Jessie's Girl", followed by a "preview version" of "Let's Get It Started". When the repairman informs Jacob that a chemical was the key to their time travel, Jacob realizes it was the Chernobly. The guys prevent Lou, once again beaten up without his friends, from falling off the rooftop. They go to Blaine's cabin to search for the drink, during which Lou finds and seduces Kelly. When Jacob suddenly vanishes, the guys realize that Lou is Jacob's father; after Lou and Kelly make love, Jacob reappears. Leaving Kelly, Lou finally assaults Blaine; the four friends retrieve the Chernobly and return to the hot tub where they create a vortex. Jacob and Nick enter the tub, but Lou decides to stay in 1986, admitting to Adam that his carbon monoxide poisoning was attempted suicide; knowing the future, he wants to make investments and be a good father to Jacob. Adam insists upon staying too, but Lou pushes him into the vortex at the last moment. Back at the present, Adam, Nick, and Jacob discover that Lou has changed history by founding the immensely successful Lougle (rather than google), which affords him a luxurious lifestyle with Kelly. Adam discovers that he is happily married to April, while Nick is a successful music producer married to a happy and caring wife. The guys reunite at Lou's mansion with their families, satisfied with their new lives. It is a very 2010 look at 1986 and has somehow become more dated than the 24 year old era that it spoofs. The story is fun but flawed but then the film is about the characters and their actions and general nostalgia rather than science or science fiction. There are huge nods to 80s movies, particularly Back to the Future, that are fun initially but get tired fairly quickly. So much of the film’s problems are made up for the fact that the cast are clearly having a great time. It is ever so slightly more screwball than it is gross-out, which is it’s main saving grace.