Hot Tub Time Machine 2010

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: It's a bro-down, and every second has been calibrated for maximum bro-fficiency. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: A sloppy, raucous, time travel farce in the grown-men-gone-wild Hangover style, it's a surprisingly satisfying, if not exactly LMAO, riot. Read more

David Germain, Associated Press: The story rests too often on easy '80s potshots -- Look, a Jheri curl! Check out those leg-warmers! Can you hear me on my brick cell phone? -- and today's parlance falling on deaf '80s ears -- E-mail? What's that? Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The kind of crummy-looking, exploitative, childishly gross and pointedly homophobic teen-sex comedy that was ubiquitous in the 1980s. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: ... Unhinged, unrepentant and hilarious, unequivocally the best American comedy we've had in a long time. ... As a popcorn pop-culture snack for aging Gen-X'ers with their own memories and regrets, it's a fun, fast, fearless comedy. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: It's fun, it's sad, and it's kind of sad that it's so much fun. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: You can treat the movie's devolution into sheer ridiculousness as either an homage to that era's high-concept absurdism or just whatever-dude laziness, but watching Cusack revive his trench-coated cool-misfit persona will stir fortysomething hearts. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: How bad must a movie be to be good fun? How dumb to be smart? Whatever the case, Hot Tub Time Machine doesn't make the cut. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Hot Tub Time Machine zooms right by, barely pausing on its way out (like, mercifully, the '80s hair it depicts), forgotten almost before it's over. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Machine is engaging enough, but its characters' path to redemption would be more satisfying if it weren't greased with authentically '80s-style casual sexism, gay panic, and frat-comedy cliches. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: A movie much different from what its title would suggest, which is kind of a shame, because the title is so super-awesome. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: A reverent, foulmouthed, shoddily shot ode to the bottom-feeding cinema of the Reagan era. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: Director Steve Pink offsets the satire with moments of genuine warmth. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: A chlorinated, R-rated Back to the Future, Hot Tub Time Machine accomplishes what Snakes on a Plane did not: It offers a merrily idiotic movie to go with its willfully idiotic title. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Tough going, for sure. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Don't try to teach me about life in a movie called Hot Tub Time Machine. Stick to the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. It's your destiny. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: The name says it all. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: I wish the screenwriters had been 2010-minded enough to leave out the crappy gay jokes. Then again, as directed by Cusack's longtime pal and collaborator Steve Pink, and performed with manic energy by this guys-among-guys cast, the movie bops and honks. Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: Well played, Hot Tub Time Machine, well played. You defied expectations, in a good way, and managed to evolve from "potentially silly concept" to "fairly funny film." Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: A sort of over-heated alternative universe where a funny-again Chevy Chase shows up as the hot tub repair man, the band Poison is all the rage and the '80s kitsch is outstanding. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Hugely raunchy and undeniably funny, with Cusack adding just a hint of sweetness. Read more

Newark Star-Ledger: It is this year's funniest film so far. And it's probably even funnier after a couple of Bartles & Jaymes. Read more

Ian Buckwalter, NPR: Admirably turns a potentially one-note joke into a consistently funny package. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: A perfect collision of high-energy and high-concept, Hot Tub benefits from near-complete lack of inhibition and a total immersion in dude-centered shenanigans. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Cusack, who self-deprecatingly mocks his iconic presence in '80s films like Say Anything, is terrific -- with an especially wonderful, demented monologue in which he explains why he and his sister are so screwed up. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Hot Tub is the gross-out-comedy equivalent of spaghetti-testing. Many jokes are hurled against the wall. Only a few stick. Yet the sheer number and velocity of the pitches made me giddy. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: What could be a platform for retro fun, inventive plotting, and outrageous humor instead becomes mired in tired time travel cliches, trite '80s shtick, and lazy comedy. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: Best title since "Snakes on a Plane" and consistent laughs throughout. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Hot Tub Time Machine, which wants nothing more than to be a screwball farce, succeeds beyond any expectations suggested by the title and extends John Cusack's remarkable run. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Hot Tub Time Machine should have been better than this. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: At its best the film is blissfully, anarchically funny, and director Steve Pink keeps the pace crackling. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: I am genuinely saddened not to have enjoyed Hot Tub Time Machine. Read more

Kara Nesvig, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Hot Tub Time Machine is a surprisingly enjoyable way to waste 90 minutes if you're into dude humor and penis jokes. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Hot Tub Time Machine isn't a good movie, but like a bubbling bath it keeps pounding at us until our resistance wears down. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Hot Tub Time Machine is funnier than any movie called Hot Tub Time Machine has a right to be. And how funny is that? Not very, but a little. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Like the wonky Jacuzzi that gives the film its title and nutso travel mode, Hot Tub Time Machine operates in fits and starts. Read more

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: It's a reminder of how good it is to be able to laugh at the passage of time, because otherwise, you're crying. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: No masterpiece, perhaps, but Hot Tub Time Machine is post-pub perfection. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: For hilarity, characterization and clever structure, The Hangover is far superior. Still, there are some laughs in this uneven but good-natured raunchfest. Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: The most attention-getting, stupid/brilliant high-concept title since Snakes on a Plane turns out to be the first and last memorable thing about Hot Tub Time Machine. Read more

Dan Kois, Village Voice: A fundamentally lazy comedy that will probably make you laugh like an idiot. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Hot Tub Time Machine simmers right along like so many Jacuzzi bubbles popping with a carefully calibrated mix of sight gags, sex jokes and baby boomer references. Read more