Too Much Time In Hot Tub Leads To Shrinkage

Hot Tub Time Machine

There was a time in the 80’s when you needed both interesting characters and a funny premise to have a successful buddy comedy. Think back to films like Trading Places and Planes Trains and Automobiles and you get my point. The 90’s saw the rise of City Slickers and folks who inhabited Wayne’s World and little by little the situations started to overshadow the characters. Now we have reached a point in buddy comedies where both the situation and the characters can be contrasted in matchbox size outline.

If you have seen the trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine then you already know everything you need to about the plot. There is very little left to explain story wise. Adam (John Cusack), Nick (Craig Robinson) and Lou (Rob Corddry) head back to their old 80’s party-stomping for the weekend in hopes of reliving their glory days one last time. With Adam’s nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) in tow, the four men decide to drink their individual sorrows away and end up having a wild night in the hot tub. When the men wake up the next morning they are shocked to discover that they have all been transported back to 1986.

When Craig Robinson breaks the fourth wall and declares directly to the audience that “it must be some sort of Hot Tub Time Machine” he is clearly telling the viewer to officially check their brains at the door and enjoy the ride. Unfortunately we have been on this type of ride so much lately that the film runs out of steam fast than expected. Hot Tub Time Machine is very much akin to films like Old School and The Hangover. It even has all the same character types as those films. There is the good looking lead with relationship issues, the married one whose wife may be unfaithful, the man-child that refuses to grow up, and the nerd/straight man who just needs to loosen up. It was as if the screenwriters were using a paint-by-numbers book when writing the script.

While Hot Tub Time Machine does not offer much in the way of original comedy, it does have a few good laughs scattered throughout. The majority of the humour is directly correlated to the numerous 80’s references. Yet the highlight of the film in my opinion is Crispin Glover’s character, Phil. When Phil is first introduced he is a disgruntle hotel porter who is missing an arm. When the film jumps back to 1986 we see a much happier version of Phil with both appendages in tack. How does Phil lose his arm? Well that is one of the running gags in the picture. Phil always finds himself in dangerous situations though you never quite sure when, or if, the arm will go.

Hot Tub Time Machine will not be remembered as a comedy classic by any means. I would be shocked if it is even remembered by the end of this year. Still, thanks to Crispin Glover and a few well placed 80’s references, Hot Tub Time Machine is still worth a rental. It is one of those films that will play well on a boozy Friday night; or as television background noise at a party.

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9

There is nothing harder on a movie lover than watching a film that practically screams “potential to be great” slowly falter into banality with each passing minute. Such is the case with director Shane Acker’s feature length debut 9.

One day #9 (Elijah Wood) wakes up to find himself in a post-apocalyptic world. Void of all humans, the world now belongs to fearsome machines that canvas the earth destroying everything in their path. Through his travels #9 comes across a small community of numeric clad beings like himself. Led by #1 (Christopher Plummer), the group moves from one hiding spot to another in order to maintain their survival. Tension arises when #9 joins the commune and starts to question how the world reached its current state. When #2 (Martin Landau) is captured by one of the machines #9 and # 5 (John C. Reilly), against # 1’s wishes, sets out in hopes of finding their friend and unlocking the mystery of their existence.

At times, visually speaking, 9 is a stunning work filled with many inventive character designs. The ramshackle world that the creatures and robotic monsters roam in allows Acker to create some thrilling action sequences. Unfortunately the overall story does not have the depth needed for a film this ambitious. A film such as this really needs to have a compelling story to match the visuals. The pacing of this picture is painfully slow which, as a result, causes several major plot points to take too long to unfold. While all the gaps are eventually filled, most of which you see coming from a mile away, it requires a lot of effort on the viewers part to stay awake long enough to see the whole thing through.

Another issue I had with 9 is that for all the visual flair, and great ensemble voice casting, the majority of characters are surprisingly one-dimensional. Since there is no real depth to any of the characters, many of the same scenes are repeated over and over in different settings. There are only so many times that you can sit thorough #1’s old cowardly lion routine before you want to smack somebody. The same can be said for #7's (Jennifer Connelly) numerous “jumping into battle by herself” sequences. While I am all in favour of strong female action heroes, Acker never really develops #7’s character any further than what we see on the surface. While 9 is extremely fascinating on a visual level, it lacks the substance needed to truly make it a beautiful picture.