Sorry for the lack of posts, but I really haven't been watching many movies lately. The problem with Netflix instant is that I start watching lots of movies, but if I'm not interested I can easily turn it off and never finish it. I've been doing that quite a bit lately, and I just haven't had much time to watch movies. Maybe I should start posting about TV. This week one of the movies I started watching was Love And Other Drugs. I've had it on dvd from Netflix for a couple weeks and I wanted to get it sent back so I forced myself to start it up. Right at first I thought it could be promising, but that hope quickly faded. It was horrible. The interactions between the main characters were so awkward. The brother was supposed to be there for some comic relief, but he wasn't even close to being funny. I made it about 50 minutes in, but when I saw there was another full hour left I decided to bail on it. It is a total piece of crap movie.
I've had Hot Tub Time Machine in my instant queue for quite a while, but never had much motivation to watch it. My expectations were extremely low due to the mostly negative reviews it got when it was released. Those low expectations allowed me to enjoy the film, even though I'd have to agree that it wasn't all that funny, or interesting.
Hot Tub Time Machine has a ridiculous premise, but it embraces it. I was able to buy into everything that was going on. Even though the set-up wasn't great, it got me into the film and I was ready for a good time. They traveled back in time and had a few funny jokes... then the whole thing fell apart.
Right after they traveled back in time they made a big deal about how they couldn't change anything from the past. Then they started changing things... then they still said they had to make sure and not change things... then is started course correcting, so it seemed like they couldn't change things... then they kept on changing things. It was very convoluted. It is a comedy, just keep it simple. Gives the guys a clear mission and a simple task, and work the funny in there. Things got too confusing... and not in the good "LOST" kind of confusing. It became idiotic, and I didn't know what they needed to do, or really care for that matter. The jokes seemed to suffer right along with the haphazard plot. They had a lot of potential, but to me it seemed like nothing was every done with it. I did enjoy the ongoing arm gag, and there were a few moments that got a chuckle out of me, but overall the last 70 percent of this film was a mess.
My total lack of expectations set Hot Tub Time Machine up to be a success. After the first 20 minutes it looked like it might be a surprise gem that I didn't count on. However, that faded and the meat of the movies was just kinda... meh. I'd say you are probably fine to skip it. If you had any desire to see it, you would have already done so.
Filed Under: Comedy, Cusak, Movie Review, Time Travel