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Hot Tub Time Machine
USA 2010
produced by John Cusack, Grace Loh, Matt Moore, John Morris, Michael Nelson (executive) for for [New Crime Productions/United Artists, MGM
directed by Steve Pink
starring John Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, Sebastian Stan, Lyndsy Fonseca, Crispin Glover, Chevy Chase, Charlie McDermott, Lizzy Caplan, Collette Wolfe, Aliu Oyofo, Jake Rose, Brook Bennett, Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe, Jessica Paré, Kellee Stewart, Julia Maxwell, Geoff Gustafson, Austin Warren, Adam Sabla, Jocelyn C. Waugh, Curtis Santiago, Ryan Guldemond, Jeremy Page, Anthony Dallas, Odessa Rojen, Viv Leacock, Jamie Switch, Chad Garner, Donald MacDonald, Chad MacDonald, Anthony Pagni, Blaine Anderson, Michael Roberds, Daren A. Herbert, Megan Holmes, Ecstasia Sanders, Edward Ruttle, Heathcliffe Scaddan, Peter Wilson, Brent Lister, Lars Anderson, Paul Dzenkiw, Rhys Williams, Amy Esterle, Natalia Dawn, Ava Leemet, Willy Lavendel, Crystal Tisiga, Marie West, Josh Heald, William Zabka, Diora Baird
story by Josh Heald, screenplay by Josh Heald, Sean Anders, John Morris, music by Christophe Beck
review by Mike Haberfelner
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To cheer up their suicidal (asshole) friend Lou (Rob Corddry), Adam
(John Cusack), Nick (Craig Robinson), and Adam's nephew Jacob (Clark Duke)
take him to the skiing resort they had the time of their lives some 20
years ago when in their early twenties. However, the resoras well as the
whole village have changed over the last two decades, most of the guests
are pensioners now, all the good clubs are boarded up, and there's really
not much to do for fun - except for the hot tub on their room's porch,
which they use while drinking heavily ... and when they come to again,
very inexplicably they've gone back in time and are now their old selves
on that exact weekend in the 1980s. Now there's a problem, they now have
to do whatever it takes to not change the events on this very weekend to
not change history - which would be extremely inconvenient for Jacob, as
he was conceived this very weekend, and he doesn't know who his father is.
Now repeating this very weekend is not entirely pleasurable for any of
them, because Adam broke up with the girl of his dreams (Lyndsy Fonseca),
something he regretted the rest of his life, Lou gave his final,
underwhelming performance with his band, before settling for a normal life
that hasn't gone very far, and Lou has picked a feud with mountain rescue
ranger Blaine (Sebastian Stan) that ended in him being badly beaten up.
And despite their best efforts, our heroes can't just repeat their past
mistakes and eventually try to improve on them - with at best mixed
results, while Jacob's fearing more and more for his very existence. And
to add even more urgency to all of that, to return to their own time, our
friends need a certain Russian energy drink that Blaine has stolen from
them as a proof they're Russian spies ... Chevy Chase plays a mysterious
hot tub repair man. Now the title Hot Tub Time Machine
alone holds immense promise, so much so that the movie behind it is pretty
much determined to fall short - and the film does just that, as what could
have been a raunchy time travel adventure is just a lame re-hash of Back
to the Future and Peggy Sue Got Married, two films that
succeeded far better in merging teen comedy with time travel paradoxons
and that birthed many resulting tropes that felt stale in Hot Tub Time
Machine. What we're left is the usual comedic drama about atoning for
past sins and making things right the second time around, with very
predictable results. Now on the plus side though, the very dependable John Cusack
turns in another fine performance, and some 80s allusions sure are fun,
like an amusing jab at the commie buster Red
Dawn, so there sure are giggles in the film - just not enough to
properly save it.
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