Can a movie be perfect? Probably not. But if your expectations are to just have a good, dumb laugh, then Hot Tub Time Machine might be as close to perfect as you can get. Three titans of comedy, a couple up-and-comers, and plenty of self-referential 80s jokes gives us the first epic comedy of the year. I was excited to see how veteran of the “guy-meets-girl comedy” John Cusack (2012, High Fidelity…almost everything) would hold up with upstarts like Craig Robinson (The Office, Pineapple Express) and Rob Cordry (The Daily Show, What Happens in Vegas.) And let me tell you: they, along with Clark Duke (Sex Drive, Kick-Ass), come together perfectly. Perhaps too perfectly. And once Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls, Party Down) show up, forget it. I was in love with the whole thing.
This film is weird, and fairly stupid, but decent character stories and an awareness of said stupidity gives it all the ammo it needs to have you laughing for nearly the entire run time. Even if it teaches a terrible moral while trying to teach an important one, Hot Tub Time Machine has what you need even if Doc Brown wouldn’t endorse it.