Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned)   CLICK HERE to buy from Blu-ray   CLICK HERE to buy from V.O.D.   CLICK HERE to buy from   CLICK HERE to buy from Blu-ray   CLICK HERE to buy from German and English language   CLICK HERE to buy from Blu-ray German and English language   CLICK HERE to buy from V.O.D. German language only Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!

To cheer up their suicidal (asshole) friend Lou (Rob Corddry), Adam (John Cusack), Nick (Craig Robinson), and Adam's nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) take him to the skiing resort they had the time of their lives some 20 years ago when in their early twenties. However, the resoras well as the whole village have changed over the last two decades, most of the guests are pensioners now, all the good clubs are boarded up, and there's really not much to do for fun - except for the hot tub on their room's porch, which they use while drinking heavily ... and when they come to again, very inexplicably they've gone back in time and are now their old selves on that exact weekend in the 1980s. Now there's a problem, they now have to do whatever it takes to not change the events on this very weekend to not change history - which would be extremely inconvenient for Jacob, as he was conceived this very weekend, and he doesn't know who his father is. Now repeating this very weekend is not entirely pleasurable for any of them, because Adam broke up with the girl of his dreams (Lyndsy Fonseca), something he regretted the rest of his life, Lou gave his final, underwhelming performance with his band, before settling for a normal life that hasn't gone very far, and Lou has picked a feud with mountain rescue ranger Blaine (Sebastian Stan) that ended in him being badly beaten up. And despite their best efforts, our heroes can't just repeat their past mistakes and eventually try to improve on them - with at best mixed results, while Jacob's fearing more and more for his very existence. And to add even more urgency to all of that, to return to their own time, our friends need a certain Russian energy drink that Blaine has stolen from them as a proof they're Russian spies ...

Chevy Chase plays a mysterious hot tub repair man.

Now the title Hot Tub Time Machine alone holds immense promise, so much so that the movie behind it is pretty much determined to fall short - and the film does just that, as what could have been a raunchy time travel adventure is just a lame re-hash of Back to the Future and Peggy Sue Got Married, two films that succeeded far better in merging teen comedy with time travel paradoxons and that birthed many resulting tropes that felt stale in Hot Tub Time Machine. What we're left is the usual comedic drama about atoning for past sins and making things right the second time around, with very predictable results.

Now on the plus side though, the very dependable John Cusack turns in another fine performance, and some 80s allusions sure are fun, like an amusing jab at the commie buster Red Dawn, so there sure are giggles in the film - just not enough to properly save it.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned)

The links below will take you just there!!!

Find Hot Tub Time Machine at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports? Find Hot Tub Time Machine here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai Something naughty? (Must be over 18 to go there!)   find Hot Tub Time Machine at adultvideouniverse.com

Thanks for watching !!!