In an effort to re-kindle their youth,
the group heads back to the ski resort they partied in as
teens.
However, after a drinking binge in their room's hot tub, the group wake
up in the year 1986.
Cue hilarity, right? Wrong.
With such a brilliantly silly one sentence set-up, Hot Tub Time Machine
should have very much been Harold
& Kumar Go To Whitecastle : Ski Lodge Adventure -
you know - good, dumb fun, filled with a hilarious conveyor belt of
relatively unconnected comedic situations.
Hell,
if a lead character is literally going to look directly at the camera
and wink at the concept within the first fifteen minutes, then surely
we can all agree that we're on the same page and understand that anything
that follows is in the spirit of fun. Nothing more, nothing less.
But it's not.
In fact, it's not often that you'll come
across a movie that you so desperately
want to be stupider, contain less plot, and totally bypass
character
development... but Hot
Tub Time Machine is that movie.
Instead of silly good times, the audience is
overwhelmed with woefully
lazy Vampires Suck
level "referencing things we all know of, without ever making jokes"
which makes The Wedding
Singer look like the Schindler's
List of 1980s themed comedies.
And don't even get me started on the fact Hot Tub Time Machine contains the most
unprecedented amount of character backstory,
development and emotional arc the "buddy / drunken" comedy genre has
ever seen.
In
any other cinematic genre - these traits would be nothing short of a
God send. However, in a movie titled HOT TUB - F**KING - TIME
MACHINE... well, you get my point.
One can't help but wonder
that the inclusion of John Cusack into the fold could have had
something to do with all the draining "character detail" that's been
shoe horned into the script (I knew him being in an out-and-out stoner
comedy was too good to be true), but it's John Cusack, so it's cool to
see him chew on something a little bit meatier.
As to why Rob
Corddry's truly irritating character eats up so much screen time, well
that's a
bigger mystery than Daryl Somer's hair-do.
In essence, the frame
work is all there for a comedy classic - silly premise, Cusack as your
main "story" guy, then witty barbs from Corddry, Robinson, Duke and the
criminally underused Chevy Chase.
Yet for some reason, so much time is
spent on explaining each characters deep internal struggles, the jokes
end up casualties of the 90 minute time constraints.
Almost every gag falls flat here (at least the few non "hey look,
something from the 1980s" gags that are on offer), the golden egg that is the "time travel" concept is barely
capitalised on (aside from a nice little nod of the cap to Back To The Future
courtesy of an odd one-armed cameo), and - worst of all
- it's just not that much fun.
While not totally devoid of charm, it's hardly up there with the likes of silly classics like the aforementioned Harold & Kumar, Hot Rod or Grandma's Boy when it comes to delivering the goods - sadly, it's just all a little bit underwhelming.
Much like Anthony Callea being invited to a "You
Will Get Laid By A Playmate" party at the Playboy mansion instead of
you, Hot Tub Time
Machine is ultimately a wasted opportunity. DVD Special Features
The movie didn't hit as big at the cinemas as many thought it might
(it took just over $60M worldwide), but you can guarantee that it'll be
a huge smash on DVD. Therefore - expect plenty of "Uncut" Editions
leaking out into the market place over the next few years.
You're
best bet is to make sure they have bloopers and "Alternate Line"
montages - other than that, none of it is worth the effort.
Conclusion:
Movie 55% Extras: 55%
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