movie coverI'd rather be watching TV![IMDB link] [Netflix link]

PLOT SUMMARY: A hot tub takes people back to the 1980s. Hilarity ensues.

HAIKU REVIEW: Hot tub time machine
will take you to the 80’s
to relive your life.

UNCOMFORTABLE PLOT SUMMARY (inspired by this): I’m going to defer writing a succinct awkward summary in leiu of using this IMDB posting. Way to make a comedy depressing, IYouHeWeShe!

PEOPLE: Co-written by Sean Anders, who wrote and directed Sex Drive and wrote She’s Out Of My League – both excellent comedies. I look forward to his next 3 projects, though one appears to be a remake of Meatballs. (Sure, why not?)

Starring John Cusack (the movie 2012, High Fidelity, Being John Malkovitch, Tapeheads, One Crazy Summer, Better Off Dead, The Sure Thing), Clark Duke (Sex Drive, 64 eps of Greek, and a bit part in Superbad), Craig Robinson (Darryl from The Office, Miss March, Zack And Miri Make A Porno, Pineapple Express, Fanboys, Walk Hard, Knocked Up), Rob Corddry (Lower Learning, Harold In Kumar 2, What Happens In Vegas, Blades Of Glory, Old School).

With smaller parts played by Sebastian Stan, Lyndsy Fonseca (Kick-Ass, How I Met Your Mother), Crispin Glover (Back To The Future, Alice In Wonderland 2010, the movie 9, Beowulf, Epic Movie, Charlie’s Angels, Dead Man, People Vs. Larry Flynt, Wild At Heart, Twister, Friday The 13th:The Final Chapter), Chevy Chase (Saturday Night Live – the golden years), Charlie McDermott (Sex Drive, The Village), Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls, Cloverfield, 6 eps of True Blood), Collette Wolfe (Observe And Report, 17 Again, Four Christmases, The Foot Fist Way), and Jessica Pare.

QUIRKS: Science fiction. Comedy. Drugs and alcohol. Girls. Skiing. The 1980s.

References Red Dawn. References Better Off Dead (someone yells “I want my $2!” at John Cusack — and I didn’t even notice!). References tons of old 80s movies and music!

VISUALS: 1980s… eyes burning… so many colors. Actually, I liked the way everything looked back then way more than now.

SOUNDTRACK: Lots of great 80’s hits! I’m glad that INXS’s “Need You Tonight” seems to be less popular than “What You Need” these days.

MORALS: Fuck reality. Fuck the butterfly effect. Break rules and seize the yesterday!

BAD STUFF: Not entirely historically accurate, but that really doesn’t matter for comedic purposes. So Poison wasn’t really popular in 1986. So what?

There was a slight lull in the middle when they were smoking the cigar and Clint had to play the scene 3 times because he kept getting distracted. But that doesn’t really count as a true detriment.

Some of the plot was predictable, but comedies are about the voyage, not the destination.

CONCLUSION: The writer from Sex Drive and She’s Out Of My League does not disappoint! This was easily the best comedy we’ve seen all year. Sci-fi and comedy go together so well, and they are such an underplayed combination. Futurama, anybody?

It started out hilarious, and then it continued to be hilarious, and then it didn’t disappoint with a crappy ending… It delivered the whole way through. Lots of laugh out loud moments!

RATINGS:
Clint: Netflix: 5/5 stars. IMDB: 10/10.
Carolyn: Netflix: 5/5 stars. IMDB: 10/10.

Yes, this movie gets a perfect score. Very rare.

The native public rating for this movie is: IMDB: 6.8/10, Netflix: 3.8/5 stars (Netflix‘s predicted rating for us was 4.6/5 stars–pretty much accurate).

RECOMMENDATION: SEE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SIMILAR MOVIES: It kind of reminds me of what would happen if the movies 17 Again and Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel had a baby together.

MOVIE QUOTES:

Jacob: [from trailer] Do I really gotta be the asshole who says we got in this thing and went back in time?

Jacob: I’m kinda right in the middle of a thing right now, but can I text you later?
Girl at Club: Can you what?
Jacob: Are you online at all?
Girl at Club: I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Jacob: How do I get a hold of you?
Girl at Club: You come find me.
Jacob: That sounds… exhausting.

FRIENDS’ RATINGS: Stacy M said it was pretty funny. Angel liked it, but not as much as The Hangover. (I think it’s equal to or greater than. Hard to say. Both movies were more or less perfect.) In general this was very well received. Ian had good things to say about it.

Mood: indeterminate
Music: Type O Negative – Suspended In Dusk