Hot Tub Time Machine

Hot Tub Time Machine

2010

Director: Steve Pink

Writers: Josh Heald, Sean Anders, and John Morris

101 Minutes

In one of the biggest high-concept films of 2010, John Cusack stated he joined the cast simply based on the title.

In essences, this film is about four guys time traveling back to the 1980’s and reliving the weekend of their lives, finding out how detrimental the Kodiak Lodge was to their future.

Déjà.

In the beginning, Adam (John Cusack), Nick (Craig Robinson), Jacob (Clark Duke), and Lou (Rob Corrddry) travel up to the mountains because Lou tried to kill himself. Hoping to relive some positive memories, the four venture back into their “past “ only to find the Kodiak Lodge is in despair, mirroring their own lives.

Kodiak is history.

They are escorted to their room by the pissed-off, one-armed Phil (Crispin Glover) and find a hot tub time machine that will eventually take them back to 1986. Once back in time, they realize how good they had it, how much promise lay before them, and how much potential was in their lives.

Instead of enjoying the 80’s, the four friends vow to repeat the exact events that weekend, thus avoiding the Butterfly Effect.

But when Adam decides to change his course of history, the rest of the group follows suit. They’ll enjoy themselves. They’ve earned it. And the 80’s rocked.

In the scene above, Nick and Lou are playing pool discussing how they can change their own future, this time for the better. When the AFC Championship game against the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns comes on the television, Lou gets an idea to bet on the game.

He knows the future, why not.

But this is what happens in the Butterfly Effect (not the movie, the system). You change one course of normal life and the rest of history will evidently be affected. These friends traveled back in time and puked on a squirrel. The squirrel ends up on the field during the AFC Championship and John Elway’s pass goes incomplete, thus ending "The Drive" and losing the game.

But, Lou knows the potential. He understands the Butterfly Effect.

At the end of the film, the four friends have a chance to return to 2010. Lou refuses. By him staying in the past, he can positively effect his life decisions and redo the mistakes he has made in the past. This is the entire theme of the film. Lou made poor decisions. Now, he wants to correct his missteps and turn them into advantages.

Lou goes onto invent “Lougle,” an Internet search engine and was the lead singer to Monte Crew.

Perfect.

We’ve all made mistakes before. We’ve all asked ourselves, “what if I could change this event in my life…” and would this ultimately change my course of history. But, we cannot change our history, which is why films about time travel are popular. These stories place characters in situations that help them understand the past and consciously affect the future, this time for the better.

So much of the case is exactly what Lou needed. He needed a Hot Tub Time Machine.

In the end, I leave you with this: ‘Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” - Soren Kierkegaard

This is only true unless you spend a weekend at the Kodiak Lodge. Or you have a delorean that can do 88 mph.