Turn Back The Clock, Turn Off The Brain

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that with a title like Hot Tub Time Machine, you pretty much check your IQ at the door. The mere premise of the movie is ridiculous and the trailer essentially shows you everything you need to know about the film. But, those are also the same reasons why I wanted to watch this movie in the first place; because every so often, you just want to turn your brain off and have a good laugh.

Old high school friends Adam (John Cusack), Lou (Rob Corddry) and Nick (Craig Robinson) have grown apart over the years. Mostly due to work or just a change in their priorities, they’ve stopped hanging out but still fondly reminisce about their heyday in the mid-1980s. When Lou accidentally almost kills himself, the three guys (joined by Adam’s nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) head off to one of their favorite hangouts in the 80s, Kodiak Valley Ski Resort in Colorado. Getting drunk and high while relaxing in their hot tub, the quartet magically find themselves transported back to 1986. Initially planning to do exactly what they did the first time they went through that “Winterfest ‘86” weekend, Adam, Lou, and Nick eventually decide to change things. The ramifications of their actions though might end up changing their 2010 lives too.

Hot Tub Time Machine is one of those movies, like The Hangover or The Pineapple Express, that you just enjoy for itself. No deep plot, no convoluted story, no major character development. Just a fun ride that you watch with a buddy and let the good times roll. Cusack is the biggest name among these actors and it was fun seeing him letting loose here after seeing him most recently in 2012 and Must Love Dogs before that. As a fan of The Office, I was thrilled to see Craig Robinson in a real starring role in a film and he doesn’t disappoint. He brings some of that swagger he has as Darryl on TV but also portrays a completely different character here as the whipped Nick.

To me, the major surprise here is Corddry. I barely noticed him in Blades of Glory, Old School, Semi-Pro and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. In fact I only paid attention to him when he played a manic, racist agent in Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Here in Hot Tub, he’s actually got a meatier role and he gets to interact in almost every major scene with Cusack and Robinson and he’s hilarious as the manic-depressive Lou. Duke is also pretty funny as the nerdy Jacob, and I found it amusing to find out after watching the movie that he’s best friends with another “geeky” actor, Michael Cera.

As funny as this movie is, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how the local Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) made such inane cuts throughout the film. They basically cut out some shots of women’s breasts as well as some jokes about sex and relegated the Filipino audience to guessing “What happened?” It’s these kinds of stupid censoring that makes me wonder if the censors think we are all infants whose eyes need to be protected from boobs and sex talk. Pardon my French, but give me a fucking break, MTRCB.

All things considered, I had fun with Hot Tub Time Machine. The comedy was wild, the sights and sounds from the 80s plastered a smile across my face, and I really liked the chemistry of all the actors involved. So it’s not a deep movie. So sue me.