Hot Tub Time Machine (DVD)

I had heard from quite a few seemingly reliable sources that Hot Tub Time Machine was enjoyable and very funny. One person even told me it was the best movie they had seen this year (so far). I couldn't disagree more.
The plot? Three former besties reunite after one of them seemingly tries to kill himself to go on a weekend getaway to a resort they frequented twenty years earlier. John Cusack plays Adam, a financially secure guy whose girlfriend just left him. His nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) lives in his basement where he avoids social contact and plays video games all day long. I'll say this straight up front- Duke is the only funny thing about this movie. Craig Robinson plays Nick, a former musician who gave it all up for his wife and now works at a pet store called "Sup Dawg?" Then there is Lou (a.k.a. The Violator) played by Rob Corddry) who is an all around mess up and may or may not have tried to kill himself. So off they go to Kodiak Valley, the once hot spot ski resort that is now a dump in a dying town. Still, the four of them (Jacob tags along, thankfully, to infuse some sort of life into this mess) manage to get their drink on and after they pass out in a hot time, they wake up in 1986.
There are a lot of really bad 80s jokes (involving leg warmers, Alf, cassette tapes and the color of Michael Jackson's skin). The guys are desperate to get out of the 80s when a mysterious handyman (Chevy Chase) tells them they can't change a thing about what really happened during this weekend in the 80s. Needless to say, craziness ensues, blah, blah, blah.
The movie is watchable, at best. At worst? It's completely unfunny and that's a bad thing for a comedy. Some of the "humor" is so gross that it made me hate the movie more than I probably originally would have. I don't think people projectile vomiting is funny and I think anyone besides a five year old or a frat boy would agree with me. I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with all the ridiculousness and giant plot holes if the movie was actually funny or good. Lord knows I can overlook plot holes for a good movie (see: Inception). The movie pays homage to some classic 80s movies including Back to the Future (obviously), Sixteen Candles, Red Dawn and even The Terminator but all of those movies are far better than this mess.
While I love John Cusack to death, I am quite curious why he would get involved in this movie. Did he want to relive some of his 80s glory? That's possible. But with this mess and last year's 2012, his choices are becoming as frantic, unpredictable and ridiculous as those of James Franco. [When Cusack turns up on Days of Our Lives, we should worry.] Craig Robinson has stole so many scenes in so many movies and TV shows that it's a same to see him wasted away here. Corddry couldn't be any less funny if he actively tried to not be funny. Even the great cast of supporting actors who I usually LOVE (Lizzy Caplan, Crispin Glover, Sebastian Stan) couldn't save this movie. It's Clark Duke, then, that stands out as the only bright spot in this rather abysmal "comedy."
Grade: D