#jormataccone

HELP

While Saturday Night Live has been the home of many talented writers and comedians, I can’t say that everything they’ve produced is gold.  A lot of it I love, some of it is forgettable, and then there are the special few characters and skits that I downright loathe.  When it came to the latter, one character stood chief among that small pack : MacGruber.  You can imagine the horror I felt when a MacGruber movie was announced, as there has never been a more one-note character or joke in the world.  One day, however, I was bored enough to look into a little deeper, and seeing that Kristen Wiig and Ryan Phillippe were involved gave me enough to check out the movie, and I am forever grateful that I did.

Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer) and his henchmen have just secured a dangerous nuclear warhead known as the X-5.  When the U.S. Military learns of this action, Col. Jim Faith (Powers Boothe) and Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe) are sent to recruit the one man with the skill set to stop Cunth’s plans : former Green Beret, Navy SEAL, Army Ranger and all-around badass, the legendary MacGruber (Will Forte).  MacGruber initially turns Col. Faith and Lt. Piper down, but upon learning of Cunth’s involvement, MacGruber sees an opportunity to avenge the death of his bride-to-be, Casey Fitzpatrick (Maya Rudolph), who was murdered at the hands of Cunth.  MacGruber returns to the states in hopes of recruiting a super team of super-villain stoppers, whom he successfully wrangles before accidentally killing in a ghastly C-4 explosion.  Lt. Piper, however, steps up to join the team, and with the help of Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig), Casey’s former best friend and skilled agent in her own right, the team sets out to put Cunth’s plans to a stop, while MacGruber focuses on his own mission of revenge.

If one were to take the skit this film was based on at face value (which I mistakenly did), you’d be hard-pressed to figure out how one could get 90+ minutes of material out of a skit that never breaches the three-minute mark.  In a stroke of genius, however, everything that would be considered a limit in both the base idea of the skit and the limitations of the television format is inverted and expanded upon to an absurd level.  MacGruber is still an idiot, but now he’s a foul-mouthed, self-righteous, short-sighted and irresponsible one with no leash.  His MacGuyver-esque aspects are given free range for exploration, as well as being allowed to be held up in comparison to functional soldiers, when not held up against outright heroic measures.  His levels of self-awareness are nearly non-existent when it comes to planning (or lack thereof), but when it comes to awareness of self (and how he is perceived by others), his lashing back is vicious and nearly instantaneous.  Even the motivations for his revenge are flipped in a devastating manner, as MacGruber confesses to Lt. Piper that he is, in-fact, the antagonist in the love triangle that was himself, Cunth and Casey.

The writing on this movie is genius-level stuff, with a perfect balance of action film tropes being embraced and mocked against standard action movie dialogue forced to deal with the loose cannon that is MacGruber.  One of the smartest choices is having the majority of characters that MacGruber verbally assaults not just fold to his actions : Col. Faith tends to appease MacGruber with a flat reaction, while Lt. Piper and Cunth often throw back verbal jabs and hay-makers of their own.  There are jokes of all levels that play beautifully here, from rhythmic back and forth dialogue (such as Forte and Chris Jericho’s interaction), quick wit (such as Wiig’s fabulous ‘It can wait’ response to Forte’s inquiry about her singing career), or even outrageous physical comedy (like the amazing coffee shop/stakeout scene).  There are so many levels of humor going on that even MacGruber’s fish out of water aesthetic plays well, despite being one of the more subtle aspects of his character in light of the rest of the outrageous action that takes place.

Jorma Taccone and team certainly stepped up to the plate in terms of making MacGruber look like a million bucks on the big screen.  There are plenty of scenes made to look cheap for comic effect, but when need be, the sets are done up to echo most every stereotypical action movie location of the 1980s and 1990s : the Pentagon, abandoned warehouses, military compounds, underground bunkers, and even a beach-side hideaway in the vein of Riggs from Lethal Weapon are all present.  The costuming in the movie is on point, especially when MacGruber and Vicki are tasked with donning party attire during a party infiltration.  The action set-pieces are highly entertaining and visually stimulating, with the final climactic action beat unveiling a handful of surprises from our main cast that the movie spent time seeding throughout.

The cast in this film really brings the high value and rewatchability factor to the table, with everyone shining at any moment that they get screen time.  I’ve admittedly not been the biggest fan of Will Forte in the past, but he leans so hard into the MacGruber character that it is as fascinating to watch as it is entertaining.  Kristen Wiig is as funny as always, making the most of her limited opportunities to make memorable moments.  Ryan Phillippe continues to prove his range in the shadows of his post-teen heartthrob career, turning in a comedic performance full of dry wit and second-guessing that plays well against MacGruber’s clueless nature.  Powers Boothe plays the beacon of the old school well, pulling off Sam the Eagle vibes with his performance to a tee.  Val Kilmer embraces the chance to drench his serious villain in a pool of comedy as well, playing much more subtle and real in contrast to the outlandish nature of our heroes.  The cameos from Chris Jericho, MVP, The Great Khali, Mark Henry, Kane and The Big Show (of the WWE) are some of the most memorable in recent film history, and quick uncredited cameos by Amar’e Stoudemire and DJ Nu-Mark in the club scene provide enough confusion to be intriguing.