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Critics Consensus: Its flagrantly silly script -- and immensely likable cast -- make up for most of its flaws.
Critic Consensus: Its flagrantly silly script -- and immensely likable cast -- make up for most of its flaws.
All Critics (205) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (130) | Rotten (75) | DVD (5)
It may be a generational gap that turned me off, but I thought it was all quite ridiculous and the dialogue worse than coarse. Trust me and not those in their 30s. It is not worth your time.
Well played, Hot Tub Time Machine, well played. You defied expectations, in a good way, and managed to evolve from "potentially silly concept" to "fairly funny film."
Admirably turns a potentially one-note joke into a consistently funny package.
No masterpiece, perhaps, but Hot Tub Time Machine is post-pub perfection.
Hugely raunchy and undeniably funny, with Cusack adding just a hint of sweetness.
Director Steve Pink offsets the satire with moments of genuine warmth.
There are genuine moments of raucous hilarity to be found in this film, mainly from the outrageous performance of Rob Corrdry.
Pink doesn't care much for character development, which would just about be forgivable if he made a decent fist out of capturing and poking fun at 80s fashion, music and culture.
An irreverent, guilty pleasure, frat boy comedy, it blows a big fat raspberry at sci-fi fans and tells them to stick their Flux Capacitors where the sun don't shine.
You might not fall out of your seat laughing, but the film is consistently enjoyable from start to the very clever and amusing finish and with its brisk 93 minutes, it's worth taking a dip in this tub.
What Hot Tub Time Machine critically lacks is any sense of wit in its humour. Vomit, urination, male nudity and gay panic jokes take up a large amount of the film's time.
Here's the biggest question in a movie built around them: Why isn't Hot Tub Time Machine a full-on parody of the culture (or at least the movies) that the characters revisit?
I did not to expect to enjoy this movie so much or laugh so hard, and I still laugh with each repeated viewing. One reason my expectation were low is that the whole time travel concept is so played out. However, with a title as ridiculous as this one, you know you're going to have fun! The plot delivers hope for all who have regrets and for whom life has churned out disappointments, but mostly it's the interplay between the characters that delivers. Cusack irritates me mostly, but not in this film-he's the rock that holds the group together. Its Rob Corddy's character Lou, that holds this film together. He's the loser friend that we all have who just wants to relive his glory years, and you get to do it with him here-and better the second time around (Louggle!) I love Craig Robinson in this too; I'd like to see more of his work. This is the best time travel movie since Back to the Future and one of the best buddy comedies in years. I like this one more than Wild Hogs or even The Hangover. Since this is my generation, nostalgia does contribute to the experience, but anyone will enjoy this visit to the glory days of MTV and "Red Dawn." Don't you wish you'd been at Kodiak Valley for Winterfest 86?
Super Reviewer
Well. I guess you can say this is the best movie about a hot tub time machine that I've ever seen. But I mean, the sequel's coming out soon, so who knows.
Was this film necessary? I think not -- unless you're a child of the 1980s who never matured emotionally. Awful acting and a worse script. The costumes were the only redeeming element of the film.
With such a fantastic title, one would have hoped for an inventive script filled with wit and one liners. Sad to say, there's way too little in the wit department, although there are one or two laugh-out-loud lines. Consider this - there's a running joke about a one armed porter, who, when the group goes back into the 80's, sees the same porter bi-limbed. Of course the coarsest of the group, drunken wimp loser Lou, can't wait to see the poor porter lose his limb. Ha Ha Ha - well, mildly amusing, but the payoff really doesn't do the setup justice. The direction of Steve Pink (probably hiding his real identity with that fake non de plume), is way off base - terribly uneven, and lacking focus. The film starts with a bang, showing one of the "travelers" in his dead end job at a dog grooming facility called "Sup Dawg", but then quickly goes into travel log mode and an absolutely lame bit of skiing camaraderie (I doubt that these middle aged losers, especially the drunk, can even find ski bindings let alone race down the slopes). A further indictment of weak direction is the over reliance on spewing vomit - using it frequently and almost insisting that the viewer regard this as humor - here's a subtle hint: I've never ever thought that viewing vomit, in any way shape or form, to be funny. Acting wise - John Cusack is totally wasted here (and wtf - he gets wasted and then is totally unphased by all he has ingested and smoked a mere manner of moments later), and Rob Corrdry is vulgar and way too manic - spitting out his lines (and yes, vomit) as if his life depended on it. The film does have a saving grace - a very strong cameo by Chevy Chase - who utters some truly profound nonsense... an exhibition of writing that far outstrips the rest of the script and makes you wonder if Chase didn't just ad lib the entire thing. About the only other laugh out loud moment involves the divine intervention of a "magic squirrel", though I will give the writers credit for calling Corrdry's Lou character's band Motley Lew. Yes, this is a misogynistic guy flick, but that's no excuse for a weak script and a crass equals funny directive. To belabor the obvious, I wish I had a hot tub time machine, so I could recover the 2 hours lost by watching this decidedly mediocre attempt (and gee, isn't that some witty repartee on my part???).
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