Director: Steve Pink | Writer: Josh Heald
Starring: John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, Lizzy Caplan
Steve Pink wrote Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity and then literally nothing else, so I guess that awesome, John Cusack, two film flash-in-the-pan is worth something, and we should be happy that they made those great films together. Pink would then go on to be a director, and he would be terrible at it, so there’s that. Hot Tub Time Machine is a travesty, and I blame, well, everyone.
When a group of unhappy old buddies try to recreate an impactful weekend from their pasts, they are accidentally sent back in time into their own bodies, all while getting drunk in a hot tub. Now they’ll have to follow their own past footsteps if they don’t want to destroy the time continuum …or something like that. Bottoms up, boys, and try no to ruin everyone’s lives.
This is about as bad as movies get. Not only is it not funny, but the humor seems mean-spirited, likes jokes pointed in the wrong direction. A lot of it is Pink’s fault, he’s bad at his job, but the rest is on the writing, the dialogue, the cast …everything, basically. Corddry is awful, I hate his personas, not funny in the least, and Clark Duke is just as bad. Craig Robinson can’t act, and the whole, thin plot falls apart so fast it’ll make your head spin. Don’t watch this movie, don’t watch its sequel, stay far away, and avoid the least comedic 90 minutes of your life.
My rating: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆