Everyone needs a good laugh sometimes. We love comedy because it alleviates our stresses and anxieties, leaving us feeling fresh and giggly. Everyone has a different idea of what comedy is. Some of us prefer jokes that are smart and take a minute to understand while others prefer everything to be right in their face. At the end of the day though, if the other people around you are laughing, it becomes contagious and everyone has a good time. That is exactly what Hot Tub Time Machine, directed by Steve Pink and written by Josh Heald, Sean Anders and John Morris, provides. It’s not a ground breaking cinematic achievement, but it’s funny as hell. Prepare to be disgusted, shocked and struggling to catch your breath in between bursts of laughter. Despite having one of the oddest titles this year, this movie is one that should not be discredited.

Adam (John Cusack), Nick (Craig Robinson) and Lou (Rob Corddry) are three longtime friends who are really in the pits. Adam’s girlfriend has just left him, Nick is caught in a job he hates after failing at his dream of being a musician and Lou is just the definition of a train-wreck. In order to get away from their troubles, they decide to take a trip with Adam’s nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) to Kodiak Hills, a ski resort that was party central back when they were 19. While the town itself has gone downhill, it doesn’t stop them from having the night of their lives in nothing other than a hot tub time machine. They magically wake up the next morning in 1986, where everyone perceives them as they looked in that year. They are given a day to relive their youth in anyway they want.

This is when the movie really gets funny. Charged up with every manner of intoxicant, the group attempts to maintain everything that happened in the past, but only ends up failing.

The story isn’t really all that important. We all go to this movie for the jokes and the movie doesn’t disappoint. Nothing is left out. They poke fun at drugs, sex and of course the ridiculous trends that defined the 80’s. You’ll be laughing the entire time.

No one is really going to be focusing on the technical aspects of this movie, but there are a few things that you should keep your eye out for. The costumes are just fantastic. When the group first begins to realize which decade they’re in, the ski slopes are a burst of neon speed suits. The costume designers were spot on in characterizing that odd sense of fashion that plagued our parents’ generation. And what would a movie making fun of the 80’s be without the music? With its epic hair metal intro in the opening credits to its wonderfully tacky score of synths, the movie captures the music that defined a decade with all its elegance and charm.

There’s not much more that can be said for Hot Tub Time Machine. It’s funny, it’s raunchy and it’s just an all-around good time. Take a friend or loved one and share in on the hilarity. It may be stupid in concept, but it’s great in every way you would expect it to be. So go ahead and laugh as hard as you want and don’t be embarrassed about it. You’ll have an amazing time at the movie, guaranteed.

Contact Will Hazzard at [email protected].