COMEDY; 1hr 41min
STARRING: John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke
Rub-a-dub-dub: from left, Robinson, Corddry, Cusack and Duke
It’s not the most understated number on the block but the cruder it gets, the more Hot Tub Time Machine seems to settle into itself. Which is a virtual given with a story about three semi-washed-up middle-aged guys and one nerdlinger ring-in going back in time to 1986 in a ski resort Jacuzzi.
Adam (Cusack), his mates Lou (Corddry) and Nick (Robinson), and his young nephew Jacob (Duke) are horrified at first to find themselves stranded in the Reagan era. For three guys sliding past their prime, it’s also a freak-out to see their younger selves mirrored back at them. But since they don’t have too much to lose — Adam has been newly dumped by his girlfriend, Lou is a suicidal alcoholic, and Nick is henpecked and frustrated — why not seize the moment-that-was and take a chance on the lives they could’ve had?
That’s loosely the message, along with a crass swag of potty-mouthed boys’ club business. There’s no way this is everyone’s fluoro leg warmers but I say give the lads a go. It turns out they’re more switched on than they look.
