Hot Tub Time Machine
Honestly, I don’t know why this movie needs to be compared to The Hangover. I will admit that I had high hopes for The Hangover, but I never held any delusions that it would change the face of the “buddy film” genre. In the end, I was kind of let down by the movie. Zach Galifianakis was underused and all of the best material was revealed in the trailer.
While I don’t want to perpetuate the comparison, I’ll confess I may be falling into the same trap with Hot Tub Time Machine. I’m super excited to see that Clark Duke is one of the main characters; I absolutely loved him in Sex Drive. However, he’s a relative newcomer, and they may have decided to play it safe with his role and give more of the better material to the veterans like John Cusack and Chevy Chase.
My point is this: there were buddy movies before The Hangover, there will be buddy movies after. Just because a buddy movie doesn’t look/sound like the lower-quality offerings of the genre (I’m looking at you, Wild Hogs), doesn’t mean that it’s automatically “The New Hangover.” We need to give this movie a chance to be it’s own quirky thing. Who knows, maybe next year I’ll be repeating this same rant about some new movie called Crazy Weekend in 1980’s Vegas that’s being touted as “The New Hot Tub Time Machine - WITH STRIPPERS AND SLOT MACHINES!.”
