MACGRUBER
(R and unrated)
MOVIE: **** (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Will Forte brings his SNL character MacGruber to the big screen in this send-up of 80s and 90s action films. The brilliant soldier MacGruber is brought out of self-inflicted exile to take down the villainous Dieter VonCunth (Val Kilmer), a ruthless arms dealer who has stolen a nuclear warhead. MacGruber partners with a young lieutenant (Ryan Phillippe) and his sexy sidekick Vicki (Kristen Wiig) to go after VonCunth and take him out of the picture.
WHAT I LIKED
I think I’m one of the few people on the planet that enjoyed “MacGruber” in the theaters. It just made me laugh. It’s not quite a spoof movie – surely not like the crap that Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer poop out on a yearly basis. But it’s not to be taken seriously at all. Rather, it’s a silly film told with the utmost seriousness.
To really appreciate “MacGruber,” you have to have a love for those 80s and 90s action films you see on HBO and Showtime. You know… the ones that always have a saxaphone somewhere in the soundtrack. The obvious parody is the “MacGyver” television show, which is where MacGruber gets his outfit, his gadgets and some of his principles. But this movie goes farther.
“MacGruber” is just a silly movie that gives an SNL character a full-length feature. It didn’t connect wtih audiences, but it’s a hell of a lot more cohesive of a film than many other SNL retreads like “Coneheads” and “Blues Brothers 2000.”
What really made this film work for me – beyond the crass sexual humor and toilet jokes, which seem to always be a winner in my immature book – is the fact that the movie just exists on its own. It’s not winking and nodding at the audience constantly, and it refuses to explain its jokes like the modern spoofs do now.
And it never lets a joke about a Blaupunkt or a Cunth pun go out of style.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Sure, there’s some things to complain about with this film, but I didn’t notice them. I had a blast watching “MacGruber.” It made me laugh, and that’s all I wanted from it.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
The Blu-ray comes with a deleted scene, a gag reel and a cast/crew commentary.
The disc also has the theatrical cut of the film, but who wants to see that? Go for the extra four minutes.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Anyone who doesn’t think Cunth puns get old.