Hot Tub Time Machine

Published May 3 2010, 00:00 BST  |  By Simon Reynolds

Can a film called Hot Tub Time Machine really be any good? The title and outlandish high concept alone are enough to set alarm bells ringing, but this lewd and crude comedy is side-splittingly funny and certainly this year's answer to the debauched antics of The Hangover. Todd Phillips's Vegas-set comedy introduced cinemagoers to the deranged talents of Zach Galifianakis, and Hot Tub features a similarly brilliant stand-out turn from ex-Daily Show correspondent Rob Corddry as Lou, a man so amoral his nickname is 'The Violator'.

It's Lou's accidental suicide attempt (he drunkenly floods his garage with petrol fumes) that sets in motion the story, as his friends Adam (John Cusack) and Nick (Craig Robinson), and Adam's Second Life shut-in nephew Jacob (Clark Duke), band together to take him to the ski resort that provided a memorable backdrop to their youth. Soon the bid to relive their glory days becomes a literal one as the titular hot tub malfunctions and transports the quartet back to the '80s. As Jacob, who's not even been born yet, begins to flicker in and out of existence, the gang must retrace their steps exactly from 1986 to make sure the future remains intact. There's also the matter of getting home, a problem that Chevy Chase's avuncular pool repairman appears to have the solution to.

The Hot Tub stars are all gifted comic performers, but bringing together funny people and hoping it translates on screen rarely works unless there's structure in place. Thankfully, director Steve Pink snappily propels the movie through funny bone-tickling set pieces, male bonding and emotional trajectories for the central foursome. The casting is crucial, and John Cusack's presence adds an air of credibility to events - he became an '80s icon when he hoisted a boombox into the air and blasted out 'In Your Eyes' in Say Anything, so he's an apt leading man for a film that celebrates the decade. The appearance of Back To The Future's Crispin Glover is also a nice touch, but it's Corddry's Enrique Iglesias-loving party animal who infuses the film with its comic energy. "He's an asshole, but he's our asshole," Adam observes about Lou, and he's spot-on.

Hot Tub's humour revels in political incorrectness, and that may put some off, but there's no doubt it's an effective nostalgic trip supported by a cracking soundtrack. Cusack's High Fidelity narrator Rob Gordon will probably have things to say about the use of Poison and Mötley Crüe, but David Bowie ('Modern Love'), New Order ('Bizarre Love Triangle') and Talking Heads ('Once In A Lifetime') represent a slice of more enduring '80s tunes. The film is as silly as a sack of bricks, but it doesn't have ambitions to be anything other than a Saturday night laugh-a-thon. On that basis, it's well worth a leap into the Hot Tub Time Machine.


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