Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

Rated: R for strong crude and sexual content, nudity, drug use and pervasive language.
Length: 99 minutes
Grade: BHFF=D+
Budget: $36 million
Box Office: $ million (50 U.S., 13 Intl., 14 DVD)

Written by: Josh Heald (First script), Sean Anders & John Morris (She’s out of my League)
Directed by: Steve Pink (Speechless, Accepted)
Starring: John Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, and Rob Corddry
With: Cispin Glover and Chevy Chase

Summary:

Three middle-aged men try to recapture their youth by vacationing at their old stomping grounds, which is now a run-down resort town. While there, they travel back through time via a hot tub along with one member’s nephew, and must figure out how to get “back to the future” without making him unexist by changing the past.

Entertainment Value: B

Back to the Future meets Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, with a little The Final Countdown sprinkled in at the end. This is incredibly vulgar and at least mostly funny. Chevy Chase was completely superfluous and unnecessary in this. Maybe he wanted to be able to claim a sci-fi role? One good decision made by the writers here was to completely embrace the total rip-off of Back to the Future they were making here, as evidenced by casting Crispin Glover (George McFly, remember?) as the one-armed bellhop. The other (even better) decision was to make a running gag out of him not losing his arm when it seemed like he might. I believe they could have made this PG-13 by losing the nudity and excessive profanity, sadly. The writing when it’s funny is quite funny, and with Cusack and Robinson, clever shouldn’t have been an issue. Horribly vulgar, but we laughed a lot.

Superficial Content: H (yes, on an A-F scale)
Drugs/Alcohol F, Sex/Nudity F, Violence D, Language H
This is R+. Absolutely NO children. And most Christians I expect would not find this entertaining because it is truly filthy. However, if that doesn’t bother you (as it at least sometimes does not bother me), then perhaps you’ll be okay here. The language is at maximum. Seriously, Kidz-in-mind gave it a 10, averaging about 2 F-words per minute (191, an approximate total, for a 99 minute movie). Several sex scenes, including top nudity. Recurrent drug use and drunkenness. Lots and lots of innuendo and vulgar comments. Plus, as I mentioned already, one running gag revolves around a guy getting his arm not cut off. Again, let me be clear. If vulgarity bothers you, avoid this at all costs. And NO children!

Significant Content: F

Middle age is awful, as you struggle to live with all your previous bad decisions. Sex is whatever you want it to be with whomever you prefer. The best part of life are those days when you can have as much sex, drugs, alcohol, and partying as you can physically endure.

Artistic/Thought Value: F

Der.

Discussion Questions:
~Even I can’t think of any here.

Poignant or memorable scenes:
~I’d like to politely decline to mention any.

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Overall Grade: D+

Horribly vulgar, but mostly funny. Not as funny as Borat or 30 Rock, but given the rarity of funny comedies these days, worth watching only if you don’t mind all the nasty filthy trash in it.