Hot Tub Time Machine

I wasn't really sure if I was going to like this movie or not. I love John Cusack, and I'm beginning to like Craig Duke more and more, but the premise of this movie is one of those that is so ridiculous it could either be really awesome or really fucking stupid, and I wasn't sure which way this movie would go. A group of friends who've stayed in touch over the years are becoming over-the-hill bitter older men who aren't happy with how their lives have gone since their glory days in high school and college. John Cusack's recently divorced, Clark Duke is his live-in nephew who is singularly unimpressed with his uncle and his uncle's friends, Craig Robinson is still married but his marriage is in trouble and his life isn't what he dreamed it could be, and Rob Corrdry...well he's just a mess all around.

After Corrdry's character has a failed suicide attempt, the three friends decide to go back to the ski resort where they spent some of the best times of their lives in hopes of rekindling their friendship, but a malfunctioning hot tub magically sends them back into the past to one of the most pivotal nights of their lives. Back in 1986, they have to carefully relive the events of that day and night in order to ensure that nothing changes, because if they fail, Clark Duke's character might cease to exist entirely.

It sounds really silly written down like that, but most time-travel movies have weird premises like that, and it's best to just go with the flow and not think too much about them as long as the filmmakers manage to make the story fun, and this story was a lot of fun. I laughed out loud more than once, which is saying a lot for me, because I'm very picky when it comes to comedies. It was fun watching these men relive this night in their lives, and fun to watch them squabbling and bickering and conversing like old friends. the actors had a lot of chemistry, which helped sell the somewhat silly story. Craig Duke has a big personality which can stick out like a sore thumb and overshadow other actors at times, so it's nice to see that in this movie, everyone here is able to rise to the challenge and make the relationships between the characters believable so nothing seems forced or annoying. I had a blast with this movie, and I'm stoked that I liked it as much as I did.