By Robert Sims, Special Contributor to The Movie Kit
Step 1: Hulu every “MacGruber” Saturday Night Live skit. Once you have witnessed Will Forte’s mulleted moron try to disarm a bomb with seconds to spare, you’ll scratch your head wondering why these one-joke MacGyer goofs deserve be extended into the first SNL skit-based film since 2000’s The Ladies Man.
Step 2: Go in with very low expectations. Then again, how could you not? There hasn’t been a truly hilarious film featuring SNL-originated characters since Wayne’s World rocked us in 1992. The good news: MacGruber isn’t It’s Pat unfunny. The bad news: MacGruber is barely Superstar funny. MacGruber represents a wasted opportunity for Forte, creator Jorma Taccone and their co-writer John Solomon. With a little work and imagination they could have done something really cool and silly with a knucklehead who’s inexplicably restricted on TV to freeing himself from the same explosive situation. Instead, the R-rated MacGruber is just a by-the-numbers action spoof that pits our hapless hero against a madman plotting to launch a nuclear missile against a high-profile U.S target. The problem is, MacGruber’s just too dumb to get the job done. You could look past his racist and sexist attitude if you believed for once that he was a highly decorated ex-soldier with the brains and brawn to save the day. Heck, this jerk doesn’t possess the know-how to get himself out of jam using rubber bands and hairpins. So what’s the point of poking fun at MacGyer if you’re going to ignore what makes your subject of ridicule who and what he is?
Step 3: Feel sorry for Ryan Phillippe and Val Kilmer. Phillippe’s spent the last five years impressing us in Breach, Crash, Flags of Our Fathers, and Stop-Loss. So why would he waste his time as Forte’s harried sidekick Lt. Dixon Piper? Phillippe’s sole function is to reinforce our belief that MacGruber’s a dumb sumbitch who’s more likely to get his men killed than take out the enemy. The one time Phillippe’s given free rein sadly proves to be the most embarrassing moment of his career. Granted, MacGruber’s probably rescued Kilmer from falling deeper and deeper into DVD oblivion. But as MacGruber’s megalomaniacal nemesis, Kilmer’s required to just shuffle around looking tanned and puffy. Surely Taccone — who makes an inauspicious directorial debut with MacGruber — remembers how much a strong and colorful foe like Dr. Evil contributed to the fun and mayhem of the Austin Powers’ trilogy? Then again, how can you expect MacGruber to give us a villain for the decades when it squanders its greatest asset, Forte SNL cast-mate Kristin Wiig. She’s a veteran from the MacGruber skits, but you wouldn’t know it from the film. She’s strangely underused as MacGruber’s teammate and eventual love interest, which makes no sense considering she’s the funniest member of SNL’s current cast. Worse, she shares no comic chemistry with Forte, despite having starred with him in countless SNL sketches over the years. Unconcerned about his dignity, Forte does anything and everything to generate a laugh, including walking around with celery stick up his butt. Unfortunately, MacGruber’s such an ill-defined comic character that Forte’s arduous efforts amount to little.
Step 4: Hold out hope that one day there will be another funny comedy based on an SNL skit. MacGruber does boast a few amusing moments. Forte and Wiig’s love scene is hysterically tasteless. But Taccone — who’s had a hand in creating many SNL digital shorts with fellow Lonely Islander Andy Samberg — can do much better. Where is the energy, creativity and inspired outrageousness that turned “Lazy Sunday” and “Dick in a Box” into instant classics? Had he and his SNL buddies tried just a little harder, Taccone may have had us mentioning MacGruber in the same breath as Jake and Elwood Blues or Wayne and Garth. Instead, MacGruber will be cursed alongside Mary Katherine Gallagher and those dancing fools from A Night at the Roxbury.
Level of difficulty in watching MacGruber: You’re in good shape if you don’t demand much from your comedies. But if you rank The Blues Brothers among your favorite films, stay at home, watch something, even an SNL rerun.
