Hot Tub Time Machine
John Cusack, Craig Robinson, and Rob Corddry play 40-something old friends who are transported back to 1986 via a hot tub.
Directed by Steve Pink
(R)
***
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Hot Tub Time Machine “offers a merrily idiotic movie to go with its willfully idiotic title,” said Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune. John Cusack, Craig Robinson, and Rob Corddry play 40-something friends who have returned to a ski resort where they misspent part of their youth. There, they climb into a hot tub that transports them back to 1986. The premise is ludicrous, but the “shrewdly chosen” cast and Steve Pink’s deft direction keep the film from sinking. In fact, this is a comedy so stupid it’s brilliant, said Ann Hornaday in The Washington Post. Hot Tub Time Machine overflows with gross-out gags, politically incorrect jokes, and illogical special effects, but it also delivers a billion laughs. The script’s “sharp riffs” on what was goofy about the ’80s (ALF, leg warmers, Marty McFly) play well alongside its jabs at Twitter, Viagra, and other contemporary targets, said Lisa Schwarzbaum in Entertainment Weekly. Even so, don’t think comedy classic. Consider Hot Tub “a fun dip into a pool of memories that are best forgotten again once the booze wears off.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'"Andor" examines all sides of how empires operate'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
DHS chief Kristi Noem's purse stolen from eatery
Speed Read Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's purse was stolen while she dined with family at a restaurant in Washington, D.C.
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Harvard sues Trump over frozen grant money
Speed Read The Trump administration withheld $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts after Harvard rejected its demands
By Peter Weber, The Week US