DVD Reviews

Hot Tub Time Machine

• Rating:
• Director: Steve Pink
• Starring: Clark Duke
• Details: US/TBC 16

Hot Tub Time Machine is a near two hour long piss-take that you'll either be onboard with from the title alone, or frown at before returning to watch the latest Iranian drama about emotionally scarred goat herders. This is, quite possibly, one of the most ridiculous films to ever stain celluloid, but it's also refreshingly unpretentious and damn well hilarious. As soon as Craig Robinson utters the film's title and then knowingly turns to the camera, you know you're about to watch something that transcends analysis.
Cusack, Robinson and Corddry are three best pals from high school who have lost touch over the years. All of the guys are not in a good place in their lives; Cusack has just broken up with his missus; Ferguson spends his days removing miscellaneous objects from the rear-end of canines; while Corddry's abrasive "asshole friend" is still, figuratively, stuck in the 80s. When one of the pals ends up in hospital after an apparent suicide attempt, they head back to the place they were happiest most, Kodiak Valley Ski Resort. A shadow of its former self, the best thing about the once hopping town is a very special hot tub that transports them back to 1986 and the best night of their lives.
The purpose here is very simple; to make you laugh. Everything about this film is designed to have you expelling popcorn from your gob, having momentarily choked whilst pissing yourself at its riotous content. And you know what, it kind of works. It feels like a film specifically designed to not make sense, and by the time it ends it will make none whatsoever. Don't bother trying to go over the timeline, or figure out who'd be where when whatever happens - It's not that kind of film, and if you're the sort who can't let that kind of plothole pass you by in a comedy, then avoid this completely.
Improvisation was obviously rampant here, with Corddry finally getting a chance to let loose in a movie after a series of false starts. He and Robinson offer completely differing approaches to comedy, with Cusack playing the straight centre, and Clark Duke also managing a few laughs. When you give funny guys a chance to be funny, then they will be; Hot Tub Time Machine is proof of that.
The kind of film you'd watch before heading out on the town to get you in a good mood, comparisons with The Hangover are inevitable; but this is genuinely the funniest film since that comedy juggernaut.

Review by Mike Sheridan