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Friday, March 26, 2010

Hot Tub Time Machine (Review)


Man’s quest for self-actualization is a struggle each and every human being goes through. How do we reach our full potential? What is our purpose on this Earth? What does it all mean? These questions are impossible to answer, but every once in a while a medium such as film can help one find the answers, and approaches the subject of man’s existence in a new and exciting way. Hot Tub Time Machine is an example of such a film.

It was German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche which introduced the idea of “Übermensch”, commonly translated to “Superman” or “Overman”. Who is this overman? To this day, many argue Nietzsche’s intention, but all can agree it is a goal for humanity. It is well known that Nietzsche was not a fan of the current state of organized religion, claiming in his work Thus Spoke Zarathrusta that it is common for man to turn to these entities in times of great stress so that there may another world where all things are better than this Earth. “God is dead”, spoke Nietzsche famously, and his philosophy of “Übermensch” is one very much of this world. Hot Tub Time Machine tells the universal tale of four men and their quest for self-actualization, which comes as a result of being taken back in time through a jacuzzi. They are not content with their current lives, and dream of a better one. There is an early scene in which the character Nick, played by Craig Robinson, pulls a key out of a dog’s rectum. Is this the key to his new, happier life? Alas, it is the key of a customer’s motor vehicle. The quest must continue.

The character Lou is played with particular emotional depth by Rob Corddy, who in the past was a reporter for the established news program The Daily Show, and has worked in other film masterpieces such as What Happens in Vegas. He is the most troubled by the failure his life has become, and after an attempted suicide, his friends Nick and Adam (the aforementioned Robinson and established thespian John Cusack, respectively) attempt to provide solace to their troubled friend by taking him on a journey to a travel destination often visited in their more youthful days. Joining them is Adam’s nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) for what is sure to be a weekend of tomfoolery so sublime that they cannot be helped but feel reinvigorated, yet the resort itself has not exactly achieved self-actualization.

However, within their residence there lies a hot tub, and it is revealed to in fact be a time machine. To what era does the hot tub take them? None other but the 1980’s, a time when the fear of the Soviet Union was being re-invigorated, and the musical stylings of acts such as Mötley Crüe were the preferred form of entertainment. The period aspect of the picture is most impressive. For surely, at this ancient time, there was not a person among all civilians that did not wear bright colors, and this is shown well here. At the resort at this time, a cultural event known as “Winterfest” is occurring, the main act being the musical quartet known as Poison. It is now the challenge of all four men to use this opportunity to claim the self-actualization that they were not able to attain during their first attempts at living.

Throughout this film the “grand profanity” as I call it is used early and often, much to the dismay of the elderly couple two rows behind me, and at its every utterance I heard a steady “tsk, tsk.” Also, every possible bodily excretion makes an appearance at least once, except for a certain moment when it is revealed a substance is, in fact, not the suspected liquid. Why do the filmmakers use such vulgarity? Let us not forget that the greatest films often shock us. Just this past year Lars von Trier’s Antichrist told the story of a vacation that leads to zany results. Does this represent the vulgarity these “undermen” experience in their everyday lives? Has failure led them to such underachieving lives that this is the world which they inhabit? It is up to the audience to follow these men as we follow them to their spiritual rebirth. Back in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, a man plays Death personified in a game of chess for his life. Not since then has a battle with mortality been so expertly transferred to film. Here, chess is replaced with a night of hot tubbing and alcohol, certainly a comparable pastime when one considers the passage of time from 1957 until now. It is within us all to become “Übermensch”, and this film provides that hope amidst the despair. When one completes the emotional journey that is Hot Tub Time Machine, they will emerge with a purpose they did not have before the opening titles.

(OK, here’s the real review. It’s alright, really. Rob Corddry is legitimately good here, for he is playing a character of more than one dimension, which most character’s here lack. This film borrows liberally from The Hangover and it shows. There are several moments of hilarity, but every once in a while they just fell flat. This movie is also more vulgar than it has to be, for I have never found projectile vomit funny. Many plot lines are introduced, but it never explores any of them deeply enough for one to get too involved. It’s a good time for the most part, though I wouldn't pay full price for a ticket. Either see a matinee or wait a couple of months to rent it. Good hunting.)

Rating: (out of 4)

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