Paragraph Movie Reviews: MacGruber

If you don't have plans to see this movie, you can check the spoilers here and then come back.

I am so glad I ignored every review and all conventional wisdom to watch this dumb movie. There was certainly nothing to distinguish it as any sort of classic, but it provided me with a bizarre and intangible entertainment for an hour and a half...and for this I am grateful. The vast majority of what makes this flimsy premise actually pretty funny is how enthusiastically Will Forte throws himself into making an utter ass of himself as MacGruber with a refreshing lack of self-consciousness, dynamite timing and great physical comedy; whether he's making bizarre noises during sex or griping about his car stereo getting stepped on, he made me chuckle quite a bit. Kristen Wiig is as funny here as I've seen her lately and Ryan Phillippe works perfectly as essentially the Greek chorus of rationality and good taste to the stupidity around him. Despite looking like he's hit about three hundred pounds or so, Val Kilmer is slick as ever and takes an infectious glee playing the villain here. I can't believe they stretched one of SNL's most hit-or-miss gags into a feature length film--and I love how they incorporate the traditional skit--but it was far better than a lot of its contemporaries in that category. I sure wouldn't recommend going out of your way to see this movie, but if you find yourself with nothing better to do, I don't think you'll hate it. Oh, and Chris Jericho is gold in his one scene.