"Hot Tub Time Machine" movie review

Let me start this off by saying that "Hot Tub Time Machine" was much better than I thought it would be - the trailers (yes, multiple ones - the regular one and the "R-rated" one) made it look like it would be very fluffy without much substance. However, it could have been better had they left out the projectile vomiting and other assorted grossness.

Four friends—John Cusack, Rob Corddry ("The Heartbreak Kid"), Craig Robinson (TV's "The Office"), and Clark Duke (TV's "Greek")—decide to go back to their favorite lodge and skiing spot from the '80s. They arrive at the lodge to find it decrepit and definitely not the cherished place from their memories, but they decide to tough it out anyway. The four friends stay in a nice suite with a hot tub, and one night, out of boredom, they all decide to go hot tubbing. This is where the story really starts; as the title implies, the hot tub turns in to a time machine, and the four characters are transported back to 1986, when they were at the lodge for Winterfest '86 (Duke's character: "Do I really have to be the asshole that says we got in this thing and went back in time?"). They also find out that they look like their teenage selves; Duke's character has not even been born by then, so he looks like himself, but his body flickers in and out, because depending on what happens this weekend, he might not even GET to be born (remember the vanishing photograph in "Back to the Future"?) The guys decide to do exactly what they did that weekend in '86 so as not to screw up the future, and the ridiculousness starts there.

The script was actually well-written, and there were a few cameos too—Chevy Chase as the mysterious hot tub electrician, who seems to appear and disappear frequently, and Sebastian Stan (TV's "Gossip Girl") as a hotshot ski patrol teenager who seems to have it out for Corddry's character. Lizzy Caplan ("Mean Girls") also has a small part as one of Cusack's love interests.

I would say "Maybe" see this movie. I really want to say "Yes, see it" but there were too many gross parts in it for me to ignore—the aforementioned projectile vomiting including. I really wish they had taken some of these vulgar parts out, but at the same time some of them define the movie. The movie overall is hilarious and is definitely not one of those comedies that put all their funny moments in their trailer. The movie will be in theaters on March 26. Jake is seeing a sneak preview of it next week, so check back then to see if his review is as favorable as mine.

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