The Great Chevy Chase Comeback continues apace. The legendary former Saturday Night Live star has signed on for a role in the John Cusack comedy, Hot Tub Time Machine, a film we’re still looking forward to despite the title.
The movie revolves around four friends who are transported, via a magical hot tub (dear God), to their high school days in 1987, where they’re given a second chance to get major life decisions right.
Cusack is, of course, the lead, while Chase will play a mysterious repairman who may or may not be behind the time travel. (So he is, then.)
OK, so it’s not a huge role, but to see Chase get a decent part in a big flick these days is always good. The man is a legend, an icon, a comedy god, and it’s been sad to see his career decline over the last ten years or so.
But the **Hot Tub Time Machine **role is further proof that he’s back back back. Not at the level of stardom he once reached in the 80s, of course, but at 65 years of age, it looks like Chase is benefiting from something of a renaissance. His sitcom, Community, has just been picked up for next season by NBC, while he’s currently considering a new script which would see him play Fletch for a third time, handing over the reins to a younger model, a la **Indy IV **or Ghostbusters 3.
As for Hot Tub Time Machine, the Steve Pink-directed movie is currently filming in Vancouver, with a release scheduled for next February. Which gives us plenty of time to organise that Chevy Chase marathon – Three Amigos! Spies Like Us! Snow Day! It’ll make our Bondathon look like we weren’t even trying…