The sighs of 13 year old girls are never a good sign. Whether it be in mocking defiance of your authority as a second cousin or in adorable astonishment at Steve Urkel's determination to finger Laura Winslow it is an ominous eye opener. In the case of Hot Tub Time Machine these sighs which I heard littered throughout the discount movie theatre were an audible acknowledgment of certain skin crawling aspects in an otherwise fine movie.
The film is a gross out comedy, perhaps the grossest I have ever seen. The homoeroticism is ramped up to levels that even the boys of Jackass have probably never dreamed of (or at the very least only participated in off camera). A few scenes in particular will probably cross the line for less adventurous viewers, but personally I relished in the debauchery, it really set this movie apart. Without some of the more extreme scenes this movie would have been a decent comedy, but the extra filth makes this one a little bit more memorable.
Rob Corddry is definitely the highlight of the film. He plays Lou, a man whose suicidal levels of alcoholism drive the plot of the movie forward. He is hilarious. His nonchalant delivery of filthy lines is insanely funny. Whether he his casually requesting a "classy" blowjob or "accidentally" attempting suicide, his performance here is a treat.
Craig Robinson is also great. He takes the ludicrous plot of the film more seriously than the other actors and the film is better for it. Clark Duke does a good job with what he's given, but for whatever reason it seems like he was given the least funny lines to recite.
What the film does not do well is impart valuable life lessons. Did we really need to be reassured that despite the sometimes head-scratchingly random events God presents us with, everything happens for a reason? Did we really need philosophical advice from a film which promotes the casual consumption of cocaine? I am no prude. In fact the parts of Hot Tub which I enjoyed the most were when the characters relished in being amoral, like in one scene where Rob Corddry cheers like he's at a Monster Truck Rally while watching another man horribly disfigured, that is funny. I just do not understand why every single mainstream movie that comes out has to be a blank-slash-romance-slash-drama. Just let the funny people be fucking funny!
Speaking of romance, this movie has it and it sucks. John Cusack's on-screen chemistry with Lizzy Caplan is certainly the lowlight of the feature, and I'm a fan of Lizzy Caplan's. I remember the first time I saw her in Mean Girls. As we were walking out of the theatre I was telling my buddy what a fox she was to which he replied with something like, "No she isn't, didn't you see how much eye make-up she was wearing?" Anyways, her role as a free spirited music journalist feels very tacked on and preachy. John Cusack too seems a little out of place here. It's not that he wasn't funny, although he wasn't. I'm fine with the writers having the lead play it straight, but I think someone like Luke Wilson or Ben Stiller would have been a better fit. Cusack plays the same morose sad sack he's been portraying since 1989, and it adds nothing to the film.
Overall, if you're overly disgusted by bodily fluids or drug use I would not suggest you see this film. However, if the idea of a shockingly nasty comedy sounds like fun to you, go see it. And if the cutesy sighs of 13 year old girls make you blush like Prince Harry after he consumed his first shot of whiskey, I recommend you drink before seeing this film.
I give this movie 7 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment