Cast: John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Chevy Chase, Crispin Glover, Lizzy Caplan, Lyndsy Fonseca

Category: Comedy, Sci-Fi

It must be some sort of…pretty funny film actually. Hot Tub Time Machine follows three adult friends and a younger nephew, who embark on a guys’ weekend away to a ski resort they have fond memories of. Upon arrival, they are heartbroken to learn it is now a dump, so they decide to make the most of it by getting wasted in a hot tub and, through some negligent spilling of alcohol into the tub’s circuitry system, they inexplicably end up in 1986 (come on, it happens to the best of us).

The film employs a steady stream of both slapstick and wordplay jokes, inter-played with a heavy dose of crude, sexual humor straight out of the Apatow handbook. If that’s not what you consider funny in a comedy, I regret to inform you that you will not find this film at all humorous. Few jokes are either original or elaborately constructed, but they do achieve their task of making the audience laugh aloud, which seems to be occurring less and less frequently in cinemas these days.

Steve Pink does well, however, to harness the power of one of comedic cinema’s strongest tools when used correctly: the running joke. Without giving too much away, it involves Crispin Glover’s unfortunate hotel bellhop who seems to avoid imminent danger until the final scene, and his desperation to avoid said danger in a faulty elevator makes for the biggest laugh of the entire movie.

Certainly, every main actor involved in this film is to be commended. Cusack enjoys making minor but obvious references to his past glory as a superstar of yesteryear. Clark Duke, for all his inexperience, does justice to his role as the token socially awkward teenager and Rob Corrdry steals every scene as the unpleasant, self-absorbed alcoholic. And with every supporting role he notches up, Craig Robinson pushes his claim as a comedic lead actor. His timing and delivery in this film in particular make for some very funny moments that don’t involve someone getting injured in some way.

The film quickly becomes a reference-fest as soon as the Second Act commences. Lovers of 80s icons will appreciate the good-natured digs at films such as The Shining, Red Dawn, Back To The Future and a plethora of John Hughes classics. Where somebody like Tarantino will make the effort to conceal the majority of his allusions to add intertextual depth to his film, HTTM ensured every audience member makes the intended connection to the aforementioned films.

Of course, I always say that there is only one aspect of life more subjective than film, and that is comedy within a film. Everything I’ve mentioned as a positive about HTTM may be disregarded by those who have different tastes in humour.

‘Not that there’s anything wrong with that.’

7/10.

Author Bio: Johnny Hollywood

One day, a good friend started calling me Hollywood because of my never-ending desire to talk about films, and the nickname stuck like glue. There’s only one thing I love more than reviewing movies, and that’s discussing them with everybody and anybody, so never hesitate to tell me what you think about my work.