Movie Review - Hot Tub Time Machine

Yeah yeah yeah - I know. (mumble...somesortofapologyfornotpostingmorefrequently...mumble)

Last week, Jerrica and I decided to go catch two movies on a Tuesday afternoon in Emeryville. Not that it was illegal, but maybe we paid to go see Green Zone and then after Green Zone went to see this fantastic movie called Hot Tub Time Machine. Interesting note, the theater was not posting the titles of the movies playing in each individual theatre - I had to be resourceful to figure out where HTTM was playing. Luckily the kiosks where you could buy tickets without going to the ticket window list the theatre number before you have to purchase the ticket.

Anyway...

I'll say more about Green Zone later. It was a decent movie, but intense. What we really needed after it was a light, mindless, and funny film. And Hot Tub Time Machine was PERFECT!!

Loosely, the story revolves around three friends who have fallen out of touch (John Cusack, Rob Corddry, and Craig Robinson) and John Cusack's nephew. They get together to re-live old times in a small ski town only to find themselves sucked into 1986 via a hot tub time machine. Then they have to figure out how to get back without changing the future... too much.

If you think you've seen a movie like this before, you probably have. One of the main differences, though, is that this movie is so tongue-in-cheek and self-aware, that it's hard not to be thoroughly entertained by it. The best example of all the liberties they take with logic and physics was one point where something ridiculous is proposed and the response is "oh... that makes sense" as if to justify what the writer's wrote.

When you go see this (skipping this movie is not an option), keep an eye out for the homage to Back to the Future. Crispin Glover (George McFly in BTTF) has a decently sized role in the movie as well. Too bad they couldn't get Huey Lewis and The News to do a song for them. The music and all the 80s references, though, are SPECTACULAR and remind us how bad of a decade it actually was, but in an endearing way.

My recommendation, go see this movie after you've had a long day and just want to blow off some steam and laugh for 90 minutes. Hell, bring some beer with you into the theatre, too.