We’ve all been there. You realize you can’t stand your life so you and your closest friends take a weekend away from the routine to relive memories of their best trip. After an intense party, you wake up hung over and with an intense sense of déjà vu. As you sober up you realize you’ve actually replaced the younger you and have another chance for a do-over. Of course this is ridiculous but that’s why ‘The Hot Tub Time Machine’ works. At no point does it take itself too seriously as it explores the guys’ quarter- and midlife crises.
The movie opens with Adam (John Cusack) walking into an empty house as a voice mail from his wife caustically informs him that she took everything out of the house except an old black and white TV and his nephew, Jacob (Clark Duke). Jacob is a nerdy 20-year-old deadbeat playing World of Warcraft in his uncle’s basement because he doesn’t get along with his mom’s latest boyfriend. Nick (Craig Robinson) is working in a dog spa regretting a dead music career. The audience then meets Lou (Rob Cordry), as he parks his car in a garage and continues drinking. We soon learn that he has effectively alienated most of his family and all but a few friends.
As they come together, the three older men decide on a trip to Kodiak Valley, a ski resort where they’ve had better times and Adam takes Jacob along. When they get there, they find the town has not fared any better than they have. A cantankerous one-armed bell hop shows them to their old room where they find familiar memories. Later that night, the friends tap into a massive supply of alcohol and energy drinks and party until they pass out in the room’s hot tub. The next morning, the hot tub is broken, the resort is crowded with skiers wearing outdated clothes, music playing on MTV, smoking indoors, Michael Jackson is still black, and a gregarious two-armed bell hop is bringing in their luggage.
After some cryptic hints from a mysterious repair man (Chevy Chase), they decide they need to reenact the same scenarios fearing they might change their futures if they do anything differently. For Adam, that means reliving another bad break up, while Nick has to sleep with the same people he did in the past despite the fact that he was living a married life before. Lou has to get into a fight where he loses and Jacob has to hope his mother conceives him and tries to make sure the others don’t change events to prevent that from happening.
This is a movie about asking the questions everyone asks themselves. What if your high school girlfriend was “The One”? What if you hadn’t given up your dream for your wife? What if your friends had been with you when you got into the fight? What if you’d had known your family better? And most importantly, how did the one-armed bell hop lose his arm?
‘Hot Tub’ uses whatever is handy to create its moments: bodily functions, both retro and modern pop culture references, and bits of hindsight as we see what might have been. Because of its outlandish premise, ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ demands a strong suspension-of-disbelief from viewers to enjoy because after the floundering explanation of time travel, anything is possible. Final Grade A-
