Thursday, February 19, 2015

A worthless dip in a hot tub

I don't regard the original Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) as a comedy classic, but I did laugh at some of the movie's gross-out humor and its ridiculous time-travel conceit.

Now comes Hot Tub Time Machine 2, a witless sequel that traffics in blatant sexism and homophobia without creating enough laughs to justify its knee-jerk assault on propriety.

Absent John Cusack from the original, the movie staggers through a time-travel journey made by three characters from the last installment: Nick Webber (Craig Robinson); Jacob (Clark Duke); and Lou (Rob Corddry).

As the massively insensitive Lou, Cordrry dominates the proceedings, but his character's offensiveness quickly proves tiresome.

We're asked to believe that Lou capitalized on the time-travel advantage he gained in the last movie, and became the founder of a high-tech company called Lougle. He's a rich, crude and mean.

Duke's Jacob is Lou's nerdy but rebellious son. Jacob is abused by his father, aside from moments when this ungainly reprise (with director Steve Pink again at the helm) indulges in sickening sentiment.

Robinson's Nick has become a soul singer in the Barry White mode. Robinson comes closer than any of his fellow cast members to doing anything that might be called funny.

This edition's twist: The trio of time travelers winds up in the future rather than in the past.

Transported to the year 2025, the trio meets the son of the character Cusack played in the last installment, a cheerfully sincere fellow portrayed by Adam Scott.

The movie's comic high point involves a TV show called Choosy Doozy, which features a segment in which male participants are forced to have sex with one another.

I neglected to mention an early picture moment when Lou is shot in the groin, and loses his ...

You get the idea, I'm sure. This is one hopeless mess of a movie. How hopeless? Let me put it this way: I got more laughs out of Fifty Shades of Grey.

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