Hot Tub Time Machine

Hot Tub Time Machine

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Steve Pink
Produced by John Cusack
Grace Loh
John Morris
Matt Moore
Screenplay by Josh Heald
Sean Anders
John Morris
Story by Josh Heald
Starring John Cusack
Rob Corddry
Craig Robinson
Clark Duke
Crispin Glover
Lizzy Caplan
Chevy Chase
Music by Christophe Beck
Cinematography Jack N. Green
Edited by George Folsey, Jr.
James Thomas
Production
company
New Crime Productions
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
United Artists
(MGM/UA Entertainment Co.)
Release dates
  • March 26, 2010 (2010-03-26) (United States)
Running time
99 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $36 million[2]
Box office $64.6 million[2]

Hot Tub Time Machine is a 2010 American comedy film directed by Steve Pink. It stars John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Crispin Glover, Lizzy Caplan, Kellee Stewart, Crystal Lowe, Collette Wolfe, and Chevy Chase. The film was released on March 26, 2010.

A sequel, Hot Tub Time Machine 2, was released on February 20, 2015.

Plot

The film follows three friends who have been in a rut in their lives: Adam Yates (John Cusack) is dumped by his girlfriend; Nick Webber-Agnew (Craig Robinson) is a henpecked husband with a dead-end job at a dog spa; and Lou Dorchen (Rob Corddry) is a party animal in his 40s.[3][4] When Lou is hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning, Adam and Nick sympathetically take him and Adam's shut-in 20-year-old nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) to a ski resort at Kodiak Valley, where the three had some good times in the past. During a night of heavy drinking in the hotel room's hot tub, they spill the contents of a drink called Chernobly on the console. The next day, they go skiing, but after too many strange occurrences (people dressed in 1980s fashion, music videos on MTV, and Michael Jackson still being black), they realize they have traveled back to 1986. Not only that, but they have also assumed their younger bodies: they see each other as their normal age, but in their reflections and to other people, they appear as they did back then, except Jacob, who appears as himself but occasionally flickers.[5]

A mysterious hot tub repairman (Chevy Chase) appears and warns them not to change anything as it might affect the machine. In order to minimize the butterfly effect, the guys plan to re-enact their experiences. Adam has to break up with his girlfriend Jenny (Lyndsy Fonseca) and get stabbed in the eye with a fork; Lou must pick a fight and get beaten up by Blaine (Sebastian Stan), a ski patrol bully; and Nick must have sex with a groupie, and give a bad performance with his band at an open mic event. Jacob discovers his mother Kelly (Collette Wolfe) is at the resort but is acting rather slutty; he tries to figure out who his father is.[5]

The guys find the tasks rather difficult as Lou gets punched by Blaine and loses his backpack, but realizes he must face him again later at night, so he reluctantly challenges him again. Adam falls in love with Jenny again while meeting a music journalist named April (Lizzy Caplan) during the Poison concert. Nick worries about cheating on his wife even though the events occur before he even meets her. Later on, Lou tries to cash in on some sports betting using his knowledge of the game's outcomes; it works until he risks everything on predicting a game-winning touchdown, only to have the squirrel that he vomited on earlier at the resort crash the field and ruin the play.[5]

Jenny turns the tables as she initiates the breakup with Adam, but Adam later meets April and they get along. Nick changes his destiny by covering the more upbeat "Jessie's Girl", followed by a "preview version" of "Let's Get It Started". When the repairman later informs Jacob that some nuclear chemical was the key to their time travel, Jacob realizes it was the "Chernobly", an illegal Russian energy drink. The guys rescue Lou, who was beaten up without his friends again, from falling off the rooftop. They go to Blaine's cabin to search for the drink, during which Lou finds and seduces Kelly. The guys realize that Lou is actually Jacob's father. After Lou finally punches Blaine, they retrieve the Chernobly and return to the hot tub where they create a vortex. Jacob and Nick get in the tub but Lou decides to stay in 1986, admitting he had indeed attempted suicide before. Adam volunteers to stay with Lou, but Lou throws him into the vortex.[5]

Back at the present, Adam, Nick, and Jacob discover that Lou has changed history by founding "Lougle", and is enjoying a luxurious lifestyle with Kelly. Adam discovers that he is happily married to April, and Nick discovers he is a successful music producer married to a loyal and loving Courtney. The guys reunite at Lou's mansion with their families, satisfied with their new lives. During the film's closing credits, Lou is shown to be the frontman of "Motley Lüe" and sings in a video "Home Sweet Home".[5]

Cast

Production

Steve Pink directed the movie and Josh Heald wrote the screenplay.[6] It was filmed primarily at the Vancouver Film Studios in Vancouver and the Fernie Alpine Resort in Fernie, British Columbia.[7]

Marketing

The first trailer for the film and the red-band trailer appeared on July 24, 2009, at Comic-Con 2009 and on the Internet. One of the red-band trailers consists primarily of specially shot footage (not featured in the film) of Jessica Paré's character in a tub. The film was screened for free in over 50 cities in the weeks leading up to its release.

On March 29, 2010, Corddry and Duke were guest hosts on WWE Raw from the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona, to promote the film. Robinson did make a short appearance, but only via satellite.[8]

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 63% based on 199 reviews with an average rating of 6.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Its flagrantly silly script -- and immensely likable cast -- make up for most of its flaws."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 63 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[11]

The New York Times critic A. O. Scott stated that "the picture moves so quickly and crazily, swerving and skidding and doubling back for seconds, that minor lapses in wit are immediately overtaken by major (and therefore hilarious) lapses in taste." He went on to comment that, "the undercurrent of misogyny and homophobic panic that courses through most arrested-development, guy-centric comedies these days is certainly present here. But unlike, say, The Hangover, which sweetens and sentimentalizes its man-child characters—allowing them to run wild and then run home to Mommy—Hot Tub Time Machine is honest in its coarseness and pretty tough on the fellows who are the agents and objects of its satire."[12]

Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, commenting that, "The bottom line is, gross-out guy comedies open twice a month, and many of them are wretched excesses. Hot Tub Time Machine, which wants nothing more than to be a screwball farce, succeeds beyond any expectations suggested by the title."[4]

Box office

The film opened at #3 with a weekend gross of $14 million in 2,754 theaters, averaging $5,091 per theater. Hot Tub Time Machine grossed $50.3 million in North America and $14.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $64.6 million against a budget of $36 million.[2]

Hot Tub Time Machine was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on June 29, 2010. An "unrated" version was also released, with the Blu-ray Disc containing a digital copy.

Soundtrack

Hot Tub Time Machine (Music From the Motion Picture)
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released March 23, 2010 (U.S.)
Label Rhino Entertainment

The soundtrack for the film, officially titled Hot Tub Time Machine (Music From the Motion Picture), was released in 2010 by Rhino Entertainment. Several of the songs were sung by members of the film.

Some tracks have artists in parentheses; this is the artist who originally performed the song.
  1. "Louder Than a Bomb" – Public Enemy
  2. "Perfect Way" – Scritti Politti
  3. "The Safety Dance" (extended 12" EP remastered version) – Men Without Hats
  4. "What You Need" (Single/LP version) – INXS
  5. "Modern Love" (Single version; 2002 digital remaster) – David Bowie
  6. "I Will Dare" – The Replacements
  7. "Push It" (album version) – Salt-n-Pepa
  8. "Bring On the Dancing Horses" – Echo & the Bunnymen
  9. "Save It for Later" – The Beat (known as The English Beat in the USA)
  10. "True" – Spandau Ballet
  11. "Jessie's Girl" (Rick Springfield) – Craig Robinson
  12. "Bizarre Love Triangle" (Shep Pettibone 12" Remastered Remix) – New Order
  13. "Once in a Lifetime" (2006 Remastered version) – Talking Heads
  14. "Home Sweet Home" – Mötley Crüe (also performed by Rob Corddry during the closing credits)
  15. "Let's Get It Started" (The Black Eyed Peas) – Craig Robinson
  16. "Hero" - Enrique Iglesias
Not included in the album

The following songs were featured in the film, but not included in the soundtrack album:[13]

Sequel

Although not a huge commercial success, strong home video sales prompted a sequel to Hot Tub Time Machine. John Cusack did not return, and Adam Scott played his character's son. Although Cusack has stated on his Twitter account that he was not even asked to be a part of the sequel, Cusack makes an uncredited cameo in the unrated home video release of the film.[14]

Released on February 20, 2015, the sequel was panned by critics and was a box office bomb, grossing less money in its entire theatrical run ($12.8 million) than the original made in its opening weekend ($14 million).

References

  1. "HOT TUB TIME MACHINE (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
  2. 1 2 3 "Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)". Box Office Mojo. CBS. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  3. "Hot Tub Time Machine". AOL Moviefone. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 Roger Ebert. "Hot Tub Time Machine". Chicago Sun Times.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Movie Spoiler for the film - HOT TUB TIME MACHINE". Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  6. "Hot Tub Time Machine Writer Comes Forward, Explains Himself". Cinematical. 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
  7. Fernandez, Jay A. (2009-05-28). "Chevy Chase jumps in Hot Tub". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
  8. "Upcoming Raw Guest Hosts". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  9. "Hot Tub Time Machine Film Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
  10. "Hot Tub Time Machine Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
  11. "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
  12. A. O. Scott (2010-03-26). "Hot Tub Time Machine – Times May Change, but Regret Endures". New York Times.
  13. Cusack, John. "Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 19 February 2015.

External links

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