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Hey
kids, LMD here, it’s been far too long since we’ve been so graced with
words from our contributor emeritus,
Ms. Dollie
Banner.
Dollie has done us all the great solid of sharing her brilliant
thoughts on the latest Saturday Night Live sketch to become a feature
film, MacGruber.
Kill’ em, Dollo.
 MACGRUBER...wasn't
totally fantastic, but it was pretty funny!
MACGRUBER...Never thought I'd say this, but Ryan Phillippe is too
straight to play the straight man!
MACGRUBER...I really wish that Chris Jericho had more than just two
scenes. It would have been a better movie! MACGRUBER!!!!
I've heard a lot of people snickering when they learned Lorne
Michaels & Co. were turning one of Saturday Night Live's shortest skits
into a feature film, but I had faith. As an unabashed MacGruber fan, I
was confident that the edge and wit that characterizes the sketches
would translate from 90 seconds into 90 minutes beautifully. The end
result is somewhere in the middle, neither horrible blunder nor blazing
success. MacGruber the movie is entertaining, silly and a bit gross, but
lacking any really original or hilarious moments.
For those not indoctrinated, SNL regular Will Forte plays MacGruber,
a MacGyver style government operative who uses whatever odd pieces at
hand to thwart plots against his country and himself, but without the
same rate of success as his counterpart. Writers Forte, John Solomon
and director Jorma Taccone obviously couldn't script MacGruber diffusing
the same bombs over and over, so they opted for the tried and true
action film parody. Colonel James Faith (Powers Boothe, love that
guy) convinces MacGruber to take on one last mission after a
decade-long hiatus when a nuclear warhead is believed to be in the
possession of Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer), the man who killed
MacG's bride (Mya Rudolph). Desperate for revenge, MacGruber
dusts off his mullet and his sports-car to team up with former ally
Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) and rookie agent Lt. Dixon Piper (Phillippe
- see theme song) in a bid to foil Cunth's plan to launch the
warhead on Washington DC.
Hilarity ensues or it would have if all the money hadn't been bet on
the title character. While MacGruber's self-absorption and ineptness
make for quite a few chuckles, the other characters come off far too
serious. How can you cast Kilmer as the villain and not let him loose
to chew up some scenery? Kilmer lets his ponytail do most of the work,
which though effective, is a total shame. After 6 seasons together on
SNL, Forte and Wiig have developed great chemistry, but Wiig's
considerable comedic talents are underused here. It's easy to sit back
and say that they should have made a funnier film, but one and a half
humorous characters just isn't enough to carry the whole load. I'm sure
when they make the Jackie Snad and Clancy T. Bacheratt movie it will be
just perfect.
~
Dollie Banner
May 22nd, 2010
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