'MacGruber' is funny, outrageously raunchy
Will Forte trying to diffuse trouble as MacGruber. (Rogue)
MacGruber
Running time: 90 minutes
MPAA rating: R (harsh profanity, extreme violence, strong crude and sexual content, nudity)
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"Ninety minutes, MacGruber!"
That was my admittedly negative thought going into the screening of "MacGruber" Thursday night.
My skepticism about turning yet another three-minute "Saturday Night Live" skit into a feature film soon segued into:
"Hey, this is around-the-bend goofball fun, but it's also -- how can I delicately put this -- NASTY!"
Raunchier than "The Hangover," which is no easy feat, "MacGruber" fills the screen with Will Forte as the seriously off-kilter, bull-headed action hero with a carry-over '80s mullet hairstyle and -- at least once -- a stalk of celery up his arse.
I told you it was raunchy. Forte co-wrote the devilishly raucous script with "SNL" writers John Solomon and Jorma Taccone, who makes his feature film directing debut.
"MacGruber" offers no pretense of Academy Award campaigns to come, or even an attempt to be taken seriously. The aim here is silly fun in the outrageous "Austin Powers" mode. From this aisle seat, it's the most entertaining "SNL" skit supersize since the late John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd hit the big-screen road as "The Blues Brothers" 30 years ago.
Ten years after his wedding and his bride Casey (Maya Rudolph) blew up in his face, gadget special operative MacGruber is lured out of a South American monastery by his old commander, Col. Faith (Powers Boothe). MacGruber agrees to leave behind his decade of peace for two reasons:
His old nemesis, black market arms dealer Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer), has stolen a missile with a nuclear warhead and is up to no good.
Also, the kids of the South American village, whom he believed adored him, tell MacGruber to "go s%&)$ himself."
It's that kind of lovingly sarcastic movie, folks. This kind of over-the-top silliness may not be your cup of cinematic cappuccino. If it is, however, the trio of creative minds behind this nonsense spare no raunchy laugh, pratfall or nudie gag along the way.
Forte, a solid member of the current "Saturday Night Live" troupe, appears right at home in the shaggy MacGruber wig and the bumbling persona. This special ops hero prefers gadgets to guns, but he's not above going for the throat to drive the humor home. And you can take that throat reference literally.
Ryan Phillippe ("Flags of Our Fathers," "Crash") makes the most of his chance to flex comic muscles as Lt. Dixon Piper, MacGruber's reluctant comrade in arms.
Kristen Wiig, the finely tuned comic engine that makes "SNL" worth watching after 35 years, excels here as Vicki St. Elmo, MacGruber's assistant. The writers are smart enough to allow Wiig enough screen time to explore hilarious nuance in a character that only sets up the time line in the TV skits. By the way, the love scene in this film is the funniest I've seen since Woody Allen got horizontal with Diane Keaton in "Play It Again, Sam" in 1971.
"MacGruber" is far from a perfect film. The dialogue is stilted at times. And even though the actors appear to be acting in a skit from time to time, it never feels like the "MacGruber" skit from "SNL" stretched thin to an hour and a-half.
In fact, when Vicki calls out "Three minutes, MacGruber" to the anti-hero, you might just feel like you're sharing a dark room with an old familiar friend.
That was my admittedly negative thought going into the screening of "MacGruber" Thursday night.
My skepticism about turning yet another three-minute "Saturday Night Live" skit into a feature film soon segued into:
"Hey, this is around-the-bend goofball fun, but it's also -- how can I delicately put this -- NASTY!"
Raunchier than "The Hangover," which is no easy feat, "MacGruber" fills the screen with Will Forte as the seriously off-kilter, bull-headed action hero with a carry-over '80s mullet hairstyle and -- at least once -- a stalk of celery up his arse.
I told you it was raunchy. Forte co-wrote the devilishly raucous script with "SNL" writers John Solomon and Jorma Taccone, who makes his feature film directing debut.
"MacGruber" offers no pretense of Academy Award campaigns to come, or even an attempt to be taken seriously. The aim here is silly fun in the outrageous "Austin Powers" mode. From this aisle seat, it's the most entertaining "SNL" skit supersize since the late John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd hit the big-screen road as "The Blues Brothers" 30 years ago.
Ten years after his wedding and his bride Casey (Maya Rudolph) blew up in his face, gadget special operative MacGruber is lured out of a South American monastery by his old commander, Col. Faith (Powers Boothe). MacGruber agrees to leave behind his decade of peace for two reasons:
His old nemesis, black market arms dealer Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer), has stolen a missile with a nuclear warhead and is up to no good.
Also, the kids of the South American village, whom he believed adored him, tell MacGruber to "go s%&)$ himself."
It's that kind of lovingly sarcastic movie, folks. This kind of over-the-top silliness may not be your cup of cinematic cappuccino. If it is, however, the trio of creative minds behind this nonsense spare no raunchy laugh, pratfall or nudie gag along the way.
Forte, a solid member of the current "Saturday Night Live" troupe, appears right at home in the shaggy MacGruber wig and the bumbling persona. This special ops hero prefers gadgets to guns, but he's not above going for the throat to drive the humor home. And you can take that throat reference literally.
Ryan Phillippe ("Flags of Our Fathers," "Crash") makes the most of his chance to flex comic muscles as Lt. Dixon Piper, MacGruber's reluctant comrade in arms.
Kristen Wiig, the finely tuned comic engine that makes "SNL" worth watching after 35 years, excels here as Vicki St. Elmo, MacGruber's assistant. The writers are smart enough to allow Wiig enough screen time to explore hilarious nuance in a character that only sets up the time line in the TV skits. By the way, the love scene in this film is the funniest I've seen since Woody Allen got horizontal with Diane Keaton in "Play It Again, Sam" in 1971.
"MacGruber" is far from a perfect film. The dialogue is stilted at times. And even though the actors appear to be acting in a skit from time to time, it never feels like the "MacGruber" skit from "SNL" stretched thin to an hour and a-half.
In fact, when Vicki calls out "Three minutes, MacGruber" to the anti-hero, you might just feel like you're sharing a dark room with an old familiar friend.
