Up & Coming Weekly

Good Clean Sexist Fun Hot Tub Time Machine (Rated R) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS Machine (100 minutes) is exactly what it sounds like — a movie about a hot tub that is also a time machine. It is an almost point- less movie to re- view, because you get exactly what is advertised. Did you read the title? Then you pretty much know what it’s about. Did you see the list of stars? Then you also know whether or not you want to see it. For a movie that seems more like a series of above-average Saturday Night Live skits than a consistent narra- tive, the cast and crew do a pretty good job of sell- ing the concept. Director Steve Pink seems to know exactly what he has going for him. To whit, a likable cast, a bizarre premise, and a culture drowning in ‘80s nostalgia. In present day California four frenemies are ready for a break. Adam (John Cusack) is recovering from a movie break-up (movie break-up: dra- matic, over the top, nobody breaks up that way except in a movie). Lou (Rob Corddry) is suffering from some kind of vaguely defined midlife crisis that eventually lands him the hospital. Nick (Craig Robinson a.k.a. Daryl from The Office) is on the outs with his wife Courtney (Kellee Stewart). Jacob (Clark Duke) is more interested in Second Life than he is in living his real life, where he stays in Uncle Adam’s basement. The four dudes head off for their dude friendly glory day recapturing Hot Tub Time weekend fairly early in the film. About 40 sexist comments later, they are all passed out drunk in a hot tub. When they finally wake up, the reflec- tions they face include Kid from Kid N Play and a dirty hippy. The buddies eventually figure out, and pretty quickly accept, the ob- vious. They are currently living a combination of Back to the Future and Better Off Dead, trapped in the past, facing mirror images that are not their own. The sky darkens, ominous music starts to play, and then, out of the creeping shadows … Chevy Chase appears! Everyone in the theater screams in horror at what the success of community has wrought, but eventually we all get to go to our happy place, where Crispin Glover cam- eos rinse the sewage flavor of the Chevy Chase cameo from our mouths. After dealing (or not dealing, depending on your interpretation of the scene) with the science behind time travel, everyone agrees to follow the original timeline and recreate their original actions. That promise lasts for about five minutes; then the rest of the movie is all about breaking the rules. A good time is had by all, until Blaine and Chaz, ski patrol/ski bullies, inadvertently interfere with Adam and company’s attempts to get back to the future. The snappy one-liners and ‘80s movie tributes are wearing a little bit thin at this point, and Chevy Chase looks a little bit more like the death of all humor every time he appears on the screen. On the other hand, the minds behind the movie manage to pull off the near impossible feat of creating a cult movie on purpose. Usually, this sort of self-aware tongue in cheek ensemble piece falls apart because everyone tries way too hard to make the magic hap- pen. In this case, despite the pervasive sexism, Hot Tub Time Machine is funny and certainly worth convincing a group to enjoy it with you. HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com 24 UCW APRIL 7-13, 2010 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM

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