Movie Review: MacGruber (2010)

There must have been a reason why I found the initially positive response to director Jorma Taccone’s MacGruber so ominous. Perhaps it was the fact that Taccone’s past cinematic exploits only include an actor credit for Land of the Lost and Hot Rod but it’s more likely that I found the eight positive reviews on the film’s Rotten Tomatoes page to be so forewarning that I had no doubt in my mind that it would turn out to be terrible. Having seen it, I can proudly say that the accolades that are proudly presented on the film’s poster (which is equally terrible) which claim that MacGruber is “the best SNL movie since Wayne’s World” are simply bullshit.

I cannot fathom how a professional film critic can come to such a conclusion (unless they were paid by the studio to spout such nonsense) as MacGruber features nothing but long-running unfunny puns, homophobic banter, expletives, and clichéd and unfocused storytelling.

But more explanation is needed other than “it’s horrible” and I’ll start by introducing the villain’s name — Dieter Von Cunth. Besides from being played by a painfully bad Val Kilmer, screen-writers Will Forte (who also shows his ineptitude at acting through his performance as the film’s protagonist), John Solomon, and Jorma Taccone (who fails once again to deliver quality entertainment) use the film’s short (the running time is probably the best thing about the film) length in order to emphasis Dieter’s last name — over and over again as if to appeal to the ten year olds in the audience who find any sort of profanity to be hilarious.

But besides from being absolutely stupid, the jokes are also extremely predictable. In one particular scene, MacGruber, who I progressively loathed more and more, explains that his car is not only packed with his hand-picked team of expert soldiers but also with a plethora of his homemade explosives. Of course, the car explodes and his team is killed brutally. Hardy har har, another example of MacGruber’s stupidity and anti-charisma.

It’s hard to care about the plot which has Cunth trying to detonate a nuclear weapon in Washington D.C. and MacGruber trying to stop him, because the cast of characters, which includes Ryan Phillippe and Kristen Wiig as part of MacGruber’s commando team, are so unlikable and so poorly scripted that it becomes a chore to watch. Ultimately, this serves as a counter-punch to the effective comedy (there is a minute amount) by continuously sapping away at the audience’s happiness. But to add to the pain, the acting in MacGruber is so absolutely horrendous that it serves as a reason to commit murder. Actually come to think about it, I believe that jail would be much more entertaining than re-watching such garbage.