Greed is still good for these children of the 80s in the high concept mess Hot Tub Time Machine.

Not to say that interesting ideas are lacking in this hard R retro comedy. Problem is most of them are borrowed from much better films, with Back to the Future in particular the main influence.

Yet while Marty McFly was a noble time traveller, the group in Hot Tub Time Machine are anything but, inhabiting the greed and selfishness their decade exhibited, while refusing to grow up even though the majority are well into their late 30s.

John Cusack, Craig Robinson, and Rob Corddry portray estranged long time friends, who (along with Clarke Duke, playing Cusack’s nephew) take a trip to the one great getaway of their youth, which has now become a rundown ghost town.

A drunken night in a hot tub results in more than a hangover, when the group find themselves whisked away to 1986, a time of jerry curls, leg warmers, and other fashion atrocities (which for some reason, many still follow.)

Inhabiting the bodies of their younger selves, the temptation to change their crappy present / future by altering the actions of their past proves too great. In the process, sci-fi time travel conventions mixes it up with crude comedy, resulting in a mildly funny yet ultimately lacklustre cross breed.

Problem is that unlike The Hangover, the camaraderie between this gang of man-children is nonexistent.

Sure, there are a few singles player standouts: John Cusack is having fun reliving the decade that bore his The Sure Thing and Say Anything; Craig Robinson has some fine comedic moments; and Crispin Glover is (finally) properly utilised as a bell hop facing an unusual fate.

Yet it is the casting of Rob Corddry in the vital role of the clown within its circus, the punch line to its joke, and the Will Ferrell to its Luke Wilson, that stands out as the films biggest stumbling block.

That Corddry exudes an unlikeable screen presence is half of the issue. That his character is quite simply a jaded jerk is the other.

Yet even jerks can be funny, and Corddry quite simply is not in his portrayal of an oversexed, constantly drunk, and always cursing douche whose constant desire for wealth and power makes him a character not worth rooting for, laugh along with, or to laugh at.

Tired gags, usually revolving around naughties technology and 80s pop culture, not to mention a tired cameo from Chevy Chase (clearly a knockoff of Billy Murray in Zombieland) do not provide the laughs needed to fill the void.

That the lone standout moment occurs during the end credits seems unfair. That it involves bad boy rockers Motley Crue will make many wish they were watching that 80s film instead.