"Hot Tub Time Machine" is actually quite enjoyable. The ridiculous title and its obvious concept turned me off at first but it turned out to be a lot of fun.
As a fan of John Cusack, it was pleasing to see his character, Adam, reminiscent of Rob from "High Fidelity" (2000), especially when his girlfriend moved out on him at the very beginning. "She basically called me an asshole, like I'm a narcissistic asshole." His friend replies, "Yeah, she has a point though." The movie does spend a significant amount of time with the guys being assholes and calling each other assholes, but it is probably the best guys-acting-as-assholes movie.
Three middle-aged men are despondent with the sad state of their lives, Rob Corddry being the worst of the bunch, is in the hospital with another not-suicide attempt (beause if he really wanted to, he would kick ass at killing himself), and Cusack and Craig Robinson are called in as the only people who could be described as his friends. Believe it or not, but the movie's opening with all this unhappiness is quite funny and real at the same time. To cheer themselves up, they are off to a ski resort where they used to hang out in the 80s. I think we all know why it's called "Hot Tub Time Machine".
As ridiculous and inane as this all sounds, there is a lot of clever humour in the movie, and the characters, as much as they are assholes, they are also real and genuine. I know them and that just makes them all the more fun. I was annoyed with the inclusion of Jacob (Clark Duke) as Cusack's nephew because I think one Jonah Hill is enough.
As a fan of John Cusack, it was pleasing to see his character, Adam, reminiscent of Rob from "High Fidelity" (2000), especially when his girlfriend moved out on him at the very beginning. "She basically called me an asshole, like I'm a narcissistic asshole." His friend replies, "Yeah, she has a point though." The movie does spend a significant amount of time with the guys being assholes and calling each other assholes, but it is probably the best guys-acting-as-assholes movie.
Three middle-aged men are despondent with the sad state of their lives, Rob Corddry being the worst of the bunch, is in the hospital with another not-suicide attempt (beause if he really wanted to, he would kick ass at killing himself), and Cusack and Craig Robinson are called in as the only people who could be described as his friends. Believe it or not, but the movie's opening with all this unhappiness is quite funny and real at the same time. To cheer themselves up, they are off to a ski resort where they used to hang out in the 80s. I think we all know why it's called "Hot Tub Time Machine".
As ridiculous and inane as this all sounds, there is a lot of clever humour in the movie, and the characters, as much as they are assholes, they are also real and genuine. I know them and that just makes them all the more fun. I was annoyed with the inclusion of Jacob (Clark Duke) as Cusack's nephew because I think one Jonah Hill is enough.