Rating:  

Michaels-Goldwyn, Relativity Media, and Universal Pictures.

Written By: Will Forte, John Soloman, and Jorma Taccone, with characters adapted from the “Saturday Night Live” sketch, “MacGruber”

If you are a fan of the current incarnation of Saturday Night Live, you have undoubtedly caught the sketch, “MacGruber”. Spoofing the 1980′s TV series, “MacGyver”, “MacGruber” is a simple one-joke premise, usually replicated three times over the course of an episode, where MacGruber is locked in a building with two sidekicks and a bomb which will diffuse in 20 seconds. The female assistant yells out how much time is left; MacGruber (Will Forte) asks for random objects to destroy the bomb, and typically engages in some argument or embarrassing situation with the third person – often the guest host for that particular week. Lasting no longer than 1 minute, the sketches can be absolutely hilarious (as the case with Betty White or Charles Barkley) or fall rather flat (the Pepsi ads from the 2010 Super Bowl). Since its launch in 2007, there have 28 of these 1-minute “MacGruber” episodes and so, naturally, “MacGruber” has been adapted into a 99-minute feature film.

And yes…they barely pull it off.

Necessarily, we need exposition and a plot to flesh this out to a feature and we kind of get enough to pay attention. MacGruber’s fiance, Casey (Maya Rudolph), was killed on their wedding day 10 years ago and MacGruber has retreated to Ecuador, leaving his military training and work as a covert operative behind. When his sworn enemy, Dieter (Val Kilmer), has obtained the most powerful and destructive nuclear warhead on the planet, the military look to MacGruber for help. Upon learning of Dieter’s involvement, MacGruber agrees to return for one more assignment, assembling a team of former colleagues (portrayed by many current WWE wrestling stars). When MacGruber’s carelessness renders that team obsolete, he assembles a second team comprised of his fiance’s former best friend, Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) and Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe), who set out to save all of mankind from Dieter’s plan of destruction.

Okay. Sure.

Films like “MacGruber” have plotlines and story because in many ways, they have to justify their existence. This is no less a film than a skeletal framework for sight gags, jokes, and kitchen sink style humor. At times, the film feels as if it was written by a 12- or 13-year old boy. Acknowledging that however does not make “MacGruber” any less entertaining.

Alongside Will Forte’s crazed performance in the title role, Val Kilmer is ridiculous as Dieter (last name withheld for reasons understood when you see the film) and is clearly having a great time. Kristen Wiig is terrific, if you can be in a film like this, as the trusted sidekick who is enamored with MacGruber and will do anything for him. Ryan Phillippe plays straight man to all of the chaos MacGruber creates and handles the role fine.

Ultimately, this becomes less a parody of “MacGyver” and its lampooning of 1980′s action films, and more just a clusterbomb of comedic trial and error. From exploding WWE wrestlers to groan-inducing one-liners to MacGruber’s insane and unexplainable behavior, there is constant energy and anticipation that something funny is coming just around the corner.

If you can accept the film’s hearty embrace of its R-rating and tend to carry an appreciation of the no limits or boundaries approach to comedy, you may very well be entertained or perhaps even surprised by “MacGruber”. Not everything works and although I am far from a prude, I could have leveraged less of the easy, lowbrow humor with scenes more sharp or subtle in their delivery and execution.

I will admit that I was prepared for a movie that was funny for a little while and then overstayed its welcome. But surprisingly, for 99 minutes I was entertained. And if you are so inclined to take a chance with “MacGruber”, chances are you will be as well.

Should I See It?

You watch Saturday Night Live and/or enjoy the “MacGruber” sketches.

If you are a fan of the anything goes/no boundaries type of comedy, this is absolutely what you need right now.

Although it abandons the parody aspects, fans of “MacGyver” and 1980s military action films will appreciate the nods and winks to the genre.

Another example of Kristen Wiig’s underrated comedic talent.

This will simply be too crude and profane for some out there.

If you are not at least familiar with the sketch or the current cast of SNL, I am not sure this will be much of interest to you.

Again – it’s 2010. Can we move past the quick and easy homophobic jokes that still plague movies like this?

An argument could easily be made that this is worth the price of a DVD rental, as opposed to a $10-$12 movie ticket.