Hot Tub Time Machine

Like any twentieth-century decade worth its muster, the eighties carved out an oversized niche for itself in American popular culture. The ubiquity of neon and the advent of portable music ushered into Americana a near constant stream of things we’d rather forget, like Men at Work and Gremlins, and a few we wish had stayed around for a while longer, like American Gladiators and Baywatch. This film chronicles the decade that created the current twenty-somethings, though its appeal is to a slightly older age group, the thirty-somethings, the people with families and steady jobs as MBA’s and veterinarians. But, just 20 or so years ago, they were rockin’ it hardcore in hot tubs. Or something similar, anyway.

John Cusack, Craig Robinson, and Rob Corddry relive the eighties. Quite literally. Having traveled back to a long-lost haunt, they proceed to waste no time in traveling back in time. They find themselves in their older bodies and spirit, but with an apparently new lease on the past, their own past. They find themselves in the midst of making new decisions in old situations, questioning fate itself in an attempt to ‘get it right this time.’ Facing their old demons, these three (and Clark Duke) begin again, recreating his own story with the knowledge of what the potential future holds.

Self-aware and tongue-in-cheek, this film is one constant throwback, a somewhat new look at the vintage icons of the 1980′s. Crude yet sincere, the story of these three men is oddly compelling. We are always making decisions, for better or worse, and we find, time and again, that, had we known better, we would have acted differently. Or so we say. Just what and how we might act in accordance with particular knowledge of future events is a philosophical quandary of which this film makes light at every turn, but not without a healthy dose of that philosophical temper any intoxicated individual might experience attempting to solve all the riddles of time and physics in a single night.

Producing enough laughs to be called a comedy, Hot Tub Time Machine is an enjoyable film. With less heart than crudity, however, it fails to stimulate in any meaningful way. The gags have mostly been done before, and Chevy Chase just looks old, a has-been with little left to offer. To those in the requisite age group, this movie may find more enjoyment, if not more appreciation. At the end of the day, though, movies ought to inspire and/or entertain, and this one doesn’t have enough of either to be worth anything more than a rental at the local RedBox.

Rating: 2.5/4 Stars