Nothing you have seen in your life can prepare you for something as awe-inspiring as MacGruber. No movie I have seen recently (or perhaps ever) succeeds—through an overabundance of mind-numbing ineptitude masquerading as celluloid–in alienating the audience on so many levels. But where do I begin? One can start with the character of MacGruber himself.
If the filmmakers set out to create an unsympathetic, unfunny, uninteresting protagonist ( played by Will Forte, who let’s face it, deserves most of the credit) they’ve succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. If the filmmakers set out to squeeze the supremely talented Kristin Wiig into the role of an unfunny sidekick, they have triumphed. If the filmmakers tired to cajole Ryan Philippe into giving perhaps the most dispirited (read embarrassed) performance of the millennium so far, they have exceeded all possible expectations. And if they wanted to persuade Val Kilmer to be perhaps the most colorless villain since Edison (or whoever) first cranked a movie camera, then victory is theirs. I hope by the time this is printed, that moviegoers will have already heeded the warnings and let MacGruber die a quick multiplexic death. Don’t even rent it when it comes to DVD—not even from your free public library. It’s still too much.