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This is my review of "MacGruber" AFTER actually seeing the movie.
Is it possible to make a movie out of household materials? Yes, apparently it is. They took a short 30 second sketch from Saturday Night Live and were able to piece together an extremely funny movie using vulgarity, bad hair, light rock music, dick and fart jokes and a piece of celery. This was hilarious from beginning to end and is easily the best SNL comedy since "Wayne's World".
So why is this better than most SNL movies? They do not try to jam the main punch line of the skit down our throats. Instead they have MacGruber spend quite a bit of time ripping out throats. Who knew that was his thing? He seems more like a fun-loving, "kick you in the balls" type of jokester.
"A Night at the Roxbury" comes to mind immediately when I think of terrible SNL movies. Every attempt at humor in that movie was just the two a**holes exaggerating the characters they've already beaten into our skulls repeatedly on the TV show. Not the case here. They don't really touch the premise of the MacGruber SNL skit until the end. When they do it works well because it's familiar, just like that tattered old pair of underwear I won't throw away.
They establish right away that MacGruber is "the best". He's an ex-green beret for god's sake. This lends a little credibility to the whole idea that the U.S. government would put the safety of its citizens in the hands of a guy who seemingly gets out of a jam as well as Jack Tripper from "Three's Company".
I thought this would only really be good if it had an "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" vibe to it. It actually does. MacGruber's actions reminded me of William Hung auditioning for "American Idol". At first, everything he does appears to be a terrible idea. But somehow it all turns out amazingly well for him in the end. This was basically why "Ace Ventura" worked so well also. MacGruber is unacceptably cocky the entire movie just like Ace Ventura. Will Forte really pulls this off. I'm not going on record as saying he's the next Jim Carrey, but he ain't the next Urkel either.
One reason this was a great comedy was that the screenwiters (Will Forte is one of them, by the way) really went out of their way to make some of the most minute details funny. For example, Val Kilmer's character is named "C*nth". Really subtle humor is everywhere, so there is never a sense that they are trying too hard to get laughs. Literally everything MacGruber says, does, listens to or has sex with is intended to be comical. Even when he kills someone, it makes you laugh. It was refreshing to see people die in whimsical fashion for a change.
They kept the laughs going literally until the very last second and continued it into the beginning of the credits "Hangover" style. They show a string of photos from a wedding reception that aren't quite as outrageous as the pictures at the end of "The Hangover", but it's still pretty good.
It's good to finally see them get one of these Saturday Night Live movies right. Most people seem to think this will suck because there have been so many SNL movie failures. Listen to The Moviecapper here. Grab your most childish friends, have a few beers or indulge in your favorite hardcore drug beforehand and go see "MacGruber". You won't be disappointed.
My conclusion: 5 stars (out of 5)
MacGruber has his pants down or off several times and somehow I didn't mind. Hmm. I wonder if that means I'm......Nah, I'm not gonna analyze it.
Is it possible to make a movie out of household materials? Yes, apparently it is. They took a short 30 second sketch from Saturday Night Live and were able to piece together an extremely funny movie using vulgarity, bad hair, light rock music, dick and fart jokes and a piece of celery. This was hilarious from beginning to end and is easily the best SNL comedy since "Wayne's World".
So why is this better than most SNL movies? They do not try to jam the main punch line of the skit down our throats. Instead they have MacGruber spend quite a bit of time ripping out throats. Who knew that was his thing? He seems more like a fun-loving, "kick you in the balls" type of jokester.
"A Night at the Roxbury" comes to mind immediately when I think of terrible SNL movies. Every attempt at humor in that movie was just the two a**holes exaggerating the characters they've already beaten into our skulls repeatedly on the TV show. Not the case here. They don't really touch the premise of the MacGruber SNL skit until the end. When they do it works well because it's familiar, just like that tattered old pair of underwear I won't throw away.
They establish right away that MacGruber is "the best". He's an ex-green beret for god's sake. This lends a little credibility to the whole idea that the U.S. government would put the safety of its citizens in the hands of a guy who seemingly gets out of a jam as well as Jack Tripper from "Three's Company".
I thought this would only really be good if it had an "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" vibe to it. It actually does. MacGruber's actions reminded me of William Hung auditioning for "American Idol". At first, everything he does appears to be a terrible idea. But somehow it all turns out amazingly well for him in the end. This was basically why "Ace Ventura" worked so well also. MacGruber is unacceptably cocky the entire movie just like Ace Ventura. Will Forte really pulls this off. I'm not going on record as saying he's the next Jim Carrey, but he ain't the next Urkel either.
One reason this was a great comedy was that the screenwiters (Will Forte is one of them, by the way) really went out of their way to make some of the most minute details funny. For example, Val Kilmer's character is named "C*nth". Really subtle humor is everywhere, so there is never a sense that they are trying too hard to get laughs. Literally everything MacGruber says, does, listens to or has sex with is intended to be comical. Even when he kills someone, it makes you laugh. It was refreshing to see people die in whimsical fashion for a change.
They kept the laughs going literally until the very last second and continued it into the beginning of the credits "Hangover" style. They show a string of photos from a wedding reception that aren't quite as outrageous as the pictures at the end of "The Hangover", but it's still pretty good.
It's good to finally see them get one of these Saturday Night Live movies right. Most people seem to think this will suck because there have been so many SNL movie failures. Listen to The Moviecapper here. Grab your most childish friends, have a few beers or indulge in your favorite hardcore drug beforehand and go see "MacGruber". You won't be disappointed.
My conclusion: 5 stars (out of 5)
MacGruber has his pants down or off several times and somehow I didn't mind. Hmm. I wonder if that means I'm......Nah, I'm not gonna analyze it.