Hey GT readers! I am fortunate enough to go to a University and not be stuck out there in the job-less market for the time being. My college had a sneak peek of MacGruber on Thursday night and the best part was that there was a Q&A with star/co-writer Will Forte, star Ryan Phillippe, writer/director Jorma Taccone, co-writer John Soloman, and director of photography Brandon Trost! After the movie, the cast and crew answered questions and I tried my best to get an exclusive interview but they left the theater shortly thereafter. I was able to chat with Ryan Phillippe for a minute and he proved to be extremely nice and appreciative of his fans. The audience was very enthusiastic and the energy of the whole night was high and never let down.

Here is a brief synopsis for those of you who are not familiar with this sure to be hit:

MacGruber is based on a SNL sketch of the same name and revolves around a wannabe MacGyver-esque character that is a rogue special forces agent of sorts. The film begins by explaining MacGruber’s retirement for the last 10 years as well as setting up the stolen-nuke-meant-for-mass-destruction plot. MacGruber gets called back into action to recover the nuke from arch-nemesis Dieter Von Cunth played by the talented Val Kilmer. MacGruber is directed by Jorma Taccone and also stars Kristen Wiig and Powers Boothe as well as a cameo appearance from SNL alum Maya Rudolph. 

Onto the review:

MacGruber is one hell of a funny ride and I have no recent recollection of laughing that hard at the movies.  There was not a single span of two minutes where I was not laughing hysterically or clapping and cheering. This is bar-none the best SNL adapted film in the last decade as well as one of the better comedies in the last 10 years. MacGruber was funnier than Kick-Ass in many regards but I do not necessarily like to compare the two movies since they are very different types of approaches to the comedy genre. I imagine that MacGruber will be quoted endlessly and be as culturally prevalent as Anchorman. The comedy includes poop jokes, gay jokes, recycled gags, awkward comedy, lumpy nude males, and random humor to give an idea of the type of comedy MacGruber entails. And for all of you interested ladies (and men) out there – you get to see Ryan Phillippe’s butt in the 3rd act.

Here are some interesting facts about the movie that I learned during the Q&A:

- There are 5 active WWE wrestlers in the movie

- Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns makes a cameo appearance in the club scene

- Ryan Phillippe reportedly had the most difficult time trying not to laugh during filming and required many scenes to be reshot

- Filmed in 28 days on a budget of $10 million dollars

- Richard Dean Anderson was meant to reprise his role (from one of the skits) as MacGruber’s father but had scheduling conflicts

- Will Forte learned the “Upper Deck” trick from his college days and mentioned that it happened to him at a recent party

I do not want to reveal any more information about MacGruber but I will suggest that you see it when it is nationally released on May 21st! The comedy is crude and rampant and also serves as a parody to action films of the eighties and nineties.

Have a better one.

-Deckard

Link:
Review: MACGRUBER!