With a title like "Hot Tub Time Machine," one would expect that this is a film that does not take itself too seriously. Thankfully, that assertion is mostly correct, and instead of a terrible comedy that tries to make a point, the audience gets a mediocre comedy that gathers mild laughs from dumb jokes. All things considered, the film exceeds some low expectations.
The plot revolves around four guys who are stuck trying to make some sense out of their lives in 2010. Adam (John Cusack) is an insurance salesman who recently broke up with his girlfriend and reminisces about the dream-girl from his youth. Nick (Craig Robinson) gave up on his dream of becoming of a professional musician to be with his wife, whom he recently discovered was cheating on him. Jacob (Clarke Duke) is Adam's directionless nephew and spends all of his time playing video games online as opposed to looking for a job or going to school. Lou (Rob Corddry) is the misfit of the group — a divorced, hard-partying alcoholic of whom Adam and Nick have become embarrassed.
After a drunken accident is misinterpreted as Lou's failed suicide attempt, the guys drive to the stomping ground of their youth, a ski lodge where they hope to take their minds off their current problems. After a night of drinking in their suite's hot tub, however, they find themselves back at the lodge in 1986. Adam has the chance to stay together with his ex, Nick can get back together with the band and Jacob (in the fashion of "Back to the Future," 1985) must make sure he is conceived before he ceases to exist.
It's not hard to imagine the kinds of situations the characters find themselves in, as they are suddenly faced with the decision between changing the mistakes they made in the past and forever altering the future. Along the way, they come across ski patrol bullies, gratuitous nudity, fellatio jokes and tons of '80s clichés. The jokes and secondary characters are hit-or-miss, and nothing is particularly surprising or creative.
Luckily for the audience, there is no real attempt to explain how the time-travel works or how the characters' choices affect the future. The film does not waste time trying to make the ridiculous plot legitimate, and leaves more space for the actors to do their thing. At times, the movie tries to address legitimate questions about the psychology of people who are presented with the opportunity of changing the past. Several times it borders on thought-provoking material, but that is little more than a quick diversion from sex jokes.
In this movie there simply isn't enough time or credibility to deal with these issues, and they are left half-baked and undeveloped. If the film had strictly stuck to its guns and kept the issues light-hearted, it would have been much more cohesive and enjoyable. Fortunately, "Hot Tub" effectively abandons these tangents in the third act and sticks to the ridiculous chaos it has created, making the film's final half-hour the most enjoyable. It seems as though the filmmakers figured out what kind of movie they were dealing with halfway through and decided not to step outside their boundaries.
The strength of the film lies almost entirely on its cast of main characters. Cusack is clearly the most experienced actor of the group, and it shows: his portrayal of Adam is by far the most convincing of his counterparts. In perhaps the only truly affecting scenes in the movie, he shows a man who has not forgotten the questionable choices he has made in his life and is daunted by the prospect of permanently changing the future for better or for worse. It is a good performance that would have been better in a film more open to such emotion. Ultimately, Adam's more sentimental side plot seems too forced and out of place in the context of this script, and perhaps should have been abandoned completely.
Craig Robinson, like Cusack, is likeable as Nick, another character torn between his past and future selves. One of the funnier moments in the film involves a sobbing Nick calling his cheating wife, who happens to be nine years old at the time. He provides another great sequence as he delivers an inspired rendition of a popular Black Eyed Peas song. Robinson's character deserves more screen time, as he seems to possess the quality of being impossibly charming at all times.
The same cannot be said for Rob Corddry, who plays Lou with reckless abandon and leaves himself exposed to the whims of the questionable script. He gets credit for his commitment to the material, and when he succeeds, it provides hilarious results. Too often, however, he is let down by mediocre jokes that even the most creative comedian would have trouble with.
Clarke Duke also does a fine job as the worried teen who truly has the most to lose from messing around with the past. Typically in a film like this, the teenager would be excited at the prospect of easily accessible drugs and casual sex, but instead the character is the only true voice of reason among a group of guys determined to relive the joys of their youth. Some of his best moments involve his interactions with his future mother, as he is terrified of facing the reality of her promiscuous past.
Most of the secondary characters are forgettable, with the notable exception of Chevy Chase in a cameo as the hot tub repair man who is aware of the secrets of time travel but is content to speak only in riddles and knowing smiles. This seems like the type of movie Chevy Chase would have excelled in with a leading role 20 years ago, and he makes the most of his limited time in the film. Also, a hilarious gag involving a bellhop who is destined to lose his right arm provides some cohesion and some of the film's biggest laughs.
In the end, "Hot Tub Time Machine" is a generally enjoyable, if unremarkable comedy. The actors do their best with an uneven script, which leads to mixed results. It works best when the film sticks to what it should be — a fun and loose hodgepodge of talented actors in a whirlpool of ordered chaos. It would have been incredibly easy for this film to come off the rails completely and become an unwatchable mess, but it exceeds the expectations of probably most of the general public.
