Hot Tub Time Machine

What hath The Hangover wrought? In his four-star review of the mediocre-at-best Get Him to the Greek, San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick LaSalle claimed that we’re in the midst of a “comedy renaissance” (presumably fuelled by the Judd Apatow machine … does that make Knocked Up this generation’s His Girl Friday or this generation’s Duck Soup? Mind-boggling). However, I would argue that we are in the midst of a “comedy Hangover,” as one deliberately bargain-basement gross-out “party movie” after another attempts to replicate the unfathomable success of Todd Phillips’ film. When I say that Hot Tub Time Machine goes downhill after Rob Corddry projectile-pukes in a squirrel’s face, understand that it’s a short ride. The actors pretend to have fun with it, but the best performance comes from Lizzy Caplan, if only because I thought she was Zooey Deschanel until the closing credits.