Hot Tub Time Machine

Hell, it certainly kept me damn entertained. In this day and age it takes real comedy chops to pull off poo and vomit gags with such expert timing. The film embraces the absurdity of time travel and doesn't focus too much on the whys. All four of the male leads are brilliant, especially Corddry, who pulls off one of the great movie arseholes, without completely detaching himself from the audience. There are some classic lines, mostly coming from insults, and the film doesn't rely too much on date humour (just a few references to e-mail etc.) It cleverly spits in the face of the butterfly effect and relishes its characters manipulation of time, whilst showing that some things can't be avoided. A very entertaining comedy.

This is one of the best medium budget comedies to come out of the 2010s. A true lost art of a genre. You get nostalgia, tons of politically incorrect jokes and situations, and of course boobs. It's masterfully goofy. Don't misunderstand what I say. It's not a quality film, but it is entertaining as hell.

Really hits the nail on the head with pointless movies strictly for fun and laughter.

Not really sure what else to say, but this is one of those movies that I could come across on tv in the middle of it, and gladly sit through all the commercials to finish it, then watch just the first half right after because it's on again at 1:30am.

Adam (John Cusack) and Nick (Craig Robinson) try to cheer up their suicidal friend Lou (Rob Corddry) by taking him on a ski trip reliving their school days. They take along nephew Jacob (Clark Duke). The resort town is not what they remembered. When they have a drunken night in the hot tub, they travel back in time to 1986.

The guys are hilarious especially Craig Robinson. Rob Corddry is insane. The fact is that the premise is ridiculous and the movie knows it. Everybody knows it. All the silly 80s references are hilarious. The group of friends have great chemistry. There is general insanity and silliness going on.

First off, let me say that I did rather enjoy this film.

Yes, it is a rather (read: VERY) far-fetched premise. And yes, it does have some massive plot holes mainly because it completely disregards the space-time continuum. But this film is not designed to have you focus on these things. It is only after viewing that you realise just how stupid the whole thing is and where all the problems with time-lines etc, etc lie. Yet, I still found myself wanting to see it again.

The main characters play their parts very well. All the actors must have known exactly what they were getting themselves into and they are all willing participants. I did especially enjoy Rob Corddry's part as a washed up, dead end, dead beat alcoholic. His character was the fulcrum for the majority of the humour, both situational and verbal. Craig Robinson bought the light-hearted humour, as well as some of the best punch lines of the film. John Cusack played the 'serious' dramatic/comedic role and Clark Duke has his moments while helping to aim the whole package toward a younger demographic. Even the secondary characters have their moments of comedy glory.

There are genuine laugh out loud moments spread pretty evenly throughout which are based on plot and character, not just gross-out humour. And although gross-out humour is present it sits well because the film doesn't rely on it alone to deliver the laughs.

Another thing I found very entertaining about this movie was that as the characters travelled back to the 80's it was almost as if the humour did too. I don't mean to say that things descended into a 'Porkie's Revisited' or anything like that, but there were definite elements of the 80's present in the way the humour and characters come across. Think back to scenes you remember off the top of your head from Back To The Future, Caddy Shack, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, hell - even Breakfast Club. Hot Tub Time Machine just seemed to capture some of that and revive it for today's audiences.

I would recommend HTTM to anyone with a sense of humour not wanting to think too deeply and wanting to be entertained for 90 minutes.

Like I said at the top of this review... There are plot holes. There is no recognition of the space-time continuum - actually, the future repercussions of the character's actions would have never worked out like they do. And, really, at no point does the film actually make sense.

BUT... I was still entertained. I still laughed. I still wanted to see where the characters went. I still find myself remembering lines from the film and smiling. And, even after all I've just written, I'd still watch it again.

Can't say more than that now, can I?

Not an instant classic, but a lot of fun to watch. I think you can summarize it like that. The main actors are doing a great job selling the very silly idea of time traveling with or rather inside a hot tub! If you get sucked into that, everything else will work too. But if you don't like that general idea ... Maybe you shouldn't watch the movie after all and save yourself the time (and grief).

It's hilarious and it has heart, even when it's gross at times. Which it can be, but it's easy to tolerate and forgive it for those little moments, because it actually is funny. Trying to figure out how it actually works (the physics of the time travel) would probably lead into a territory the movie would not want you to go ... and why would you want to ruin your own enjoyment ... if you're having fun watching - stick with it