If you’ve listened to the HeyUGuys Mouth Off podcasts about nostalgia this week (here and here), or indeed followed the news of endless remakes and franchises in development over the last year, you know the eighties are very current right now. Periods always come back in vogue, and we look back fondly at the great times we remember. This is very much the influence behind Hot Tub Time Machine, the new comedy from director Steve Pink. The men all pass out drunk, but when they come to, find they are no longer in Kansas anymore. They have woken up in the year 1986. Though they look the same to each other, it turns out they look like they did 24 years ago to everyone else. What’s more, they find themselves at the Winterfest music festival, which they originally attended together all those years ago. At first they are afraid to break the timeline Back to the Future-style. It then occurs to them, however, that they have the chance to make different decisions that could affect their lives for the better.
John Cusack’s career was made in the eighties. He was in several iconic films from the period, particularly remembered for Say Anything. Whilst he has been working fairly solidly since then, the main roles he is known for, in films like Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity, also firmly place him as a child of the eighties fondly remembering his childhood. It’s easy to see why he was a great choice for this slice of comedic nostalgia.
Co-star Rob Corddry was most recently seen on the big screen in Oliver Stone’s W, Taking Chances and The Winning Season. Craig Robinson is best known for his part as Darryl Philbin in the American Office, was in last year’s dire The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, and can be seen later in the year in the promising The Other Guys. Clark Duke is a regular in the TV series Greek, and can be seen later this month in Kick-Ass. 80’s icons Chevy Chase (National Lampoons), Crispin Glover (Back to the Future) and William Zabka (The Karate Kid) make appearances too.
Director Steve Pink is relatively inexperienced, his only previous feature film was 2006’s Accepted. He is better known as a screenwriter, having been responsible for the Cusack movies previously mentioned, Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity, which both dealt with nostalgia for a 1980’s adolescence. He has also worked as an actor, in both Grosse Pointe Blank and yet another Cusack picture, America’s Sweethearts. Writing duties this time around went to Josh Heald, Sean Anders and John Morris. Heald, also responsible for the story, is a first time feature writer. Anders has a bit more experience, having written Sex Drive and She’s Out of My League alongside Morris.
The Hangover was one of last year’s surprise success stories. This bodes well for Hot Tub Time Machine. The story of grown men, trying to recapture their younger days, getting drunk with hilarity ensuing is mirrored very much here. There is arguably more scope in this movie however. The idea of fantasy wish fulfillment, going back and reliving events knowing what you do now, isn’t a new one, but hasn’t been done in quite this way before. The potential for hilarious situations is clear, with the protagonists knowledge of what originally happened good for some clever situations. Early buzz from test screenings has been very good, the film has been said to be hilarious from start to finish. Cusack has an easy charm, and has shown a talent for smart comedy throughout his career.
Financially, in theory Hot Tub Time Machine could match the performance of The Hangover last year. Neither have a particularly well known cast, and Cusack is arguably a much bigger name than any of the other actors in either film. He appeared as the lead in last year’s 2012, which made huge box office, though the carnage and destruction of geographical landmarks was really the big star of that movie. However, dramatic comedy Greenburg is also released the same weekend, and the star power of Ben Stiller could prove too much competition for Hot Tub Time Machine at the box office. An opening weekend of $10-20m can be seen as a success, particularly as there hasn’t been a huge amount of marketing so far.
If Hot Tub Time Machine does well, it could mean great things are on the way for the relatively unknown cast. The premise is smart, the potential for humour is certainly there, and it could be the first surprise hit of 2010.
Hot Tub Time Machine is released in the US this Friday 26th March. There is currently no release date scheduled for the UK, so we’ll have to content ourselves with the trailer here.
Bazmann – You can find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann
