At The Plot Hole we normally don’t concern ourselves with mainstream films – not because we’re snobs, but because we prefer to give space to films that aren’t going to get 800 reviews on their opening day – but for a movie called Hot Tub Time Machine, starring John Cusack, Rob Corddry, and Craig Robinson, which mostly takes place during my gawky fourteen-year old year of 1986, I will make an exception. It also doesn’t hurt that I wheedled my way into an advance screening, and now get to review it before it actually hits theaters, like a big-time douchey movie critic. I am actually writing this before I’ve seen the movie, in keeping with the time travel motif, so read on to jump forward in time and find out if the movie is worth your ten dollars.

The first thing you need to know is that the title Terribly Happy is an object lesson in irony: there is not a single happy thing that happens in this film. Anything that seems even minorly pleasant quickly descends into a world of poo. Imagine seeing a glitter of light winking at you from a mud puddle. You bound over in the hopes of finding a pearl or some other equally neat trinket, but when you yank it out you find it is a human clavicle. Your mom’s, as it turns out. You didn’t even know she was dead. Then a car drives by and splashes the mud all over you. And then you get cancer. That’s what watching this movie is like. But does that make it a bad film? Quite the contrary. It is beautifully shot and hits every emotional beat out of the park. It just happens to be depressing as hell. I don’t know. Maybe it is a Dutch thing.

         What is it about Eliza Dushku? To be sure, she seems great. Hands down gorgeous, for one. When she casts those Albanian browns towards the camera there is a sudden rush of just how wonderful looking she is. Never have I seen an interview where she was anything less than approachable, humble, intelligent and, well... cool. She always seems genuinely eager to explore more of the worlds film has to offer. I knew a fellow who was producing a no-budget, pseudo-horror flick -- and had a letter of intent from Dushku for the project. So, she's willing to give the little guy a chance. That's doublepluscool.
      
          And yet.... And yet, it just never quite happens.