Monster (2003)
VERDICT:
7/10 Even Better Reasons Not To Frequent Hookers
This one’s all about Cherize, folks.
Monster is based on the life and crimes of one Aileen Wuornos who, after a life of turning tricks for all the wrong reasons (are there right reasons?) at the nowhere-near-ripe age of 12, fell in love with a lesbian instead of killing herself, tried to lead a good life for about a week, and then started offing her clientele thanks to a particularly unpleasant encounter that almost left her six feet under.
Cheery stuff, indeed.
So, yeah, that Aileen Wuornos sure was an…interesting gal. Yeah, that’ll work. Not too often that a woman gets thrown into the Serial Killing Hall of Fame, but when you gun down seven guys in cold blood over the course of one year, you most definitely earn yourself a top spot on the list. But even for everything that makes Aileen’s grim, unfortunate and unusual life one that warrants a movie adaptation, it’s kinda weird that the most intriguing part about it ends up being the acting.
It’s hard to say why exactly that is, but let’s just start with the good and work our way down.
Charlize Theron deserved the Oscar in part because she gives a pretty intense and crazed performance, but I’m thinking the whole physical transformation was the real deal breaker for her in ’04. See, this is Charlize Theron on a bad day, and this is Charlize Theron as Aileen on her Sunday best.
Yeesh.
Chances are you’ve already seen those photos before, but check out what Aileen actually looked like, then look at those pictures again.
Double yeesh.
Anyway, Charlize seems like a pretty legit and pretty cool gal to begin with, but she gets a lot of credit for jumping into this role the way that she did even if it does seem like she’s almost hamming it up at times. It’s kinda funny how by just constantly sucking on your gums to make sure your fake teeth don’t fall out can make your character look that much crazier, but it works and that mega-frown combined with those bulging eyes does wonders for the overall image. Not the kinda person I’d pick up off the side of the road and drive into the woods with, but hey, different strokes for different folks I suppose.
And Christina Ricci ain’t too bad either as Aileen’s surprisingly understanding lesbian lover, Selby. Only thing is that Selby actually looks like this in real life, but despite the drastic difference in terms of physical appearance, she does her thing and does it well even though she gets totally overshadowed by Charlize.
But the rest of it is just okay. The characters are kinda hard to get into, the directing is pretty standard and so is the writing generally, so it ends up being more up to the cast than anyone else to send this baby home. There aren’t a whole lot of individual scenes that stuck with me either, but it’s really not a bad movie, just kinda unspectacular in relation to the real forces driving it at the forefront.
There’s also something a bit odd about movies centered around actual serial killers who killed actual people. It’s not glorifying Aileen or her actions in any way, more just giving us a glimpse into her tortured life than anything else, but it’s gotta be weird for the families of the people who actually died ’cause of her. Had the same strange feeling during a South Park episode where Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy went around mutilating folks like a homicidal version of The Three Stooges while trying to pick up a birthday cake for Satan. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, and I know this isn’t the intention whatsoever, but I can’t help but find it kinda weird is all.
So even though it lacks in some areas, Monster shines more often than not thanks to Charlize and her gung-ho attitude. Thought the whole would be more memorable than its parts in the long run, but hers is a performance worth checking out and one that very much brought this up from a 6 to a 7.
Hookers, man. Nothin’ but bad news.
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)
VERDICT:
8/10 Great Cornholios
Stupid done right by Mike Judge. An easy 8 if you ask me.
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is about two of the most idiotic teenagers you’re ever likely to come across who wake up one day to find their precious TV stolen out of their apartment, so they head out to find a replacement and, due to a case of mistaken identity, end up being contracted to kill some guy’s wife and wind up on America’s Most Wanted. But since these two kids are convinced that “doing” his wife means that they’ve been paid to score with her, they embark on a cross-country adventure filled with more cavity searches and boner jokes than you can imagine.
It’s based off the show of the same name, only without the “Do America” part, and despite how apparently unfortunate certain aspects of my youth were, this movie is about as familiar as I’ve ever gotten with the series. If I had been born a couple years earlier, chances are I would have been a life-long fan, but as fate may have it, ’86 just wasn’t my year and this was one of those shows that landed on ma’ and pa’s blacklist for little Aiden. The one time my mom did catch me watching it, Beavis was in the middle of a rant about Janet Jackson’s boobs and, needless to say, bed time came early that night.
But whether you were there from the beginning or just missed the cut-off and was resigned to Scooby-Doo reruns like myself, this is still one funny effing movie.
Then again, it also helps if you can laugh at the word “cockpit”.
No? Well I say give it a shot anyway. I assure you, “cockpit” can be quite humorous.
So Beavis and Butt-Head are two really freakin’ dumb individuals and a whole lot of the humor here revolves them acting as such while everyone around them either mistakes them for criminal masterminds or just stare in disbelief that they actually exist. It’s actually a pretty solid formula that works especially well when they find themselves mistaken for priests or attempt to hit on Chelsea Clinton with a suave line about braces, and while it’s not quite up to snuff with Office Space, it’s definitely one of the best things that Mike Judge has been responsible for.
After watching Idiocracy recently and finding myself surprised at how stupid-beyond-belief it was (not trying to start up another firestorm of comments here, but just sayin’), Beavis and Butt-Head is a swell reminder that Judge sure knows a thing or two about The Art of Dumb. It works in ways that Idiocracy doesn’t because B & B’s IQ levels aren’t quite at the level of cowpies and it’s a lot funnier to watch a couple dumbasses thrown into a sea of average Joes rather than the other way around. But even when B & B aren’t on-screen, it’s still great because every character’s a riot and they’ve all got a hint of stupid going for ’em, too.
The only real drawback is that all of B & B’s constant grunting and chuckling starts to wear out a bit towards the end and there are only so many words you can pull out that sound like euphemisms for “cock” before the gag loses its novelty, but other than that, I got nothin’.
And it’s also got some vocal contributions from Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Greg Kinnear, the guy who plays Hank Hill and the host of Unsolved Mysteries, so that’s nice, too.
Look, the first time I saw this movie was in middle school with my dad (who wasn’t exactly a fan of the show at the time despite our shared love of Ren & Stimpy and the first album by The Jerky Boys) after it was recommended to him by two Christian Brothers he met on a retreat who hyped it up like no other. I might not have gotten a whole lot of the jokes the first time around, but we still laughed our asses off and if the fact that there are two holy men out there who most definitely found the humor in “cockpit” doesn’t help you to keep an open mind, I’m not sure there’s anything more I can do. You, sir or madam, are a true grown-up.
I don’t think the title’s gonna sway anyone towards my adoration of it, but Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is just awesome and it cracks me the hell up at all the same parts every time I see it.
Atta boy, Mike. Atta boy.
And the best SNL movie is…
THE BLUES BROTHERS!
Hmmmm. Well, that was quite the shut-out. Maybe I should have gone for worst SNL movie. Some day…
Solid voting all the same, folks. Easily the best of the bunch, but you already know that.
RESULTS:
– The Blues Brothers: 24 votes
– MacGruber: 0 votes (feeling crazier by the minute that I liked this so much)
– Wayne’s World: 15 votes
– Wayne’s World 2: 1 vote
– Coneheads: 1 vote
– A Night at the Roxbury: 3 votes
– 2 votes for Superstar (the only thing I remember about that movie is some kid doing a Star Wars impression by doing the robot during a talent show, apparently that really resonated with some folks)
Rawhide!
Happy Memorial Day, folks!
Still enjoying this long weekend to its fullest, so no review today, but the Crap’ll be back tomorrow, I promise. Pinky promise. And hey, it gives me that much more time to see Sex and the City 2.
WOOHOOO!
Sex and the City (2008)
VERDICT:
4/10 Cosmopolitans
The best thing that’s ever happened to film, writing, New York, clothes, men named “Big” and the human race in general. Alright, maybe that’s a bit generous, but it’s still alright.
Sex and the City is about a notoriously single fashionista living in NYC who writes a popular relationship column about the various romantic trials and tribulations that she and her three friends come across while having sex in the city (scandalous!). Then one day our gal’s on-again, off-again boyfriend of ten years decides to pop the question, so the estrogen levels skyrocket, but then the guy acts a damn fool by standing her up at their wedding, and the estrogen levels drrrroooooop (like how the Beastie Boys would say it) and the dude spends the rest of the movie trying to win her back while the once-again-single gal recuperates and tries to figure out what went wrong.
Hopefully I didn’t just spoil anything for the three ladies out there who haven’t seen this, but if you haven’t caught on, this movie isn’t exactly what you’d call “up my alley”. Like any good boyfriend, I’ve watched my fair share of reruns – which aren’t so bad to be perfectly honest – but let’s just say that my gut instinct whenever I come across a SatC marathon on TBS doesn’t even come close to “drop everything and cancel Christmas, this is what’s going on right now”.
So rather than try and attempt to get all analytical on this sucker – because something tells me that writer/director Michael Patrick King wasn’t targeting all the male, twenty-something, Tarantino fans with this one – here’s my list of things I did and didn’t like.
The Most Excellent
1) Jennifer Hudson wasn’t too bad. Doesn’t have the best storyline, but she’s charming and I guess she keeps it real.
2) The storyline with Miranda and Steve was good. Made for some awfully interesting back-and-forths between me and my good buddy Fred. My thoughts: they were both in the wrong, but that whole mid-sex “Let’s just get it over with” line from Miranda was rough. Ladies, don’t do that, that’s not cool.
3) I like Steve. He’s a-okay, except for the whole cheating thing. Cheating’s lame.
4) The writing’s not terrible, but it was sharper and noticeably better in the show. Too much fan service, but that’s coming from a non-fan, so my opinion doesn’t really count on that one.
5) Charlotte getting explosive diarrhea. Awesome.
The Most Harsh
1) The scene where Big decides to ditch Carrie at the altar and then realizes ten seconds later what an effing idiot he is? What the fuck was that? That was ridiculous and it bothers me that the rest of Carrie’s whole damn story lines is a result of that.
2) The blood-letting, hermit-like depression that Carrie falls into after the said ridiculous scene. Good lord, woman, take off your shades, stop listening to The Cure and get a grip on your life! That gal was a hot mess, far more so than any human being should be.
3) A 145-minute running time was way too long for this thing.
4) Samantha‘s story line isn’t very interesting.
5) Charlotte’s story line isn’t very interesting.
6) Too much drawn-out grudge-holding. They really milked this stuff out. Are women really like that? I’m awfully curious.
Okay, maybe I’ve seen more than a few reruns since I’m talking about these characters like I own the box sets and watched them with my girlfriends in our jammies over a tub of Edy’s, but what can I say, I’m good with names. So aside from the questionable state of my manhood, Sex and the City‘s probably pretty decent for everyone who’s already on board, but it’s not gonna be making a convert out of anyone who’s never cared. Like I said, this is coming from someone who can appreciate why folks like the show even if I’m not on the bandwagon, so take it as you may and enjoy the sequel!
Man, those chicks really like shoes and shit.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
VERDICT:
7/10 Ludwig Vans
Good movie, but read the book.
A Clockwork Orange is about a 15 year-old in a future crime-ridden England who spends his days like any upstanding lad of the time by running around town beating, raping, stealing and eventually killing any old chap he comes across with the help of his three loyal droogs. Then one day his hobbies catch up with him and he’s subjected to a new form of “therapy” by Johnny Law to cure his evil urges once and for all, stripping him of free will and turning him into a “model citizen” despite any and all attempts to behave otherwise.
For all intents and purposes, this little number is a classic. It’s no surprise that so many folks hold it in such high regard and I’m not gonna be the guy to tell them otherwise, but since I can already sense some heat coming my way for stamping it with a 7, I’m just gonna jump right in and explain myself.
I might be wrong, but I think I’m one of eight people on Earth who read Anthony Burgess’ novel before seeing Kubrick’s adaptation of it. Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s an entirely accurate figure; Google it, I dare you. It was one of the select books in High School that I didn’t immediately refer to SparkNotes for and it remains one of my favorite books of all-time. Makes me wonder what other gems I missed out on, but something tells me The Scarlet Letter wasn’t exactly my bag anyway.
The reason I bring this up is because it’s hard for me to watch this movie without continually comparing it to the source material. Usually I try my very best to distance myself from this frame of mind, but considering that the two more or less mirror each other in a great many ways, distancing myself wasn’t much of an option this time around.
For the most part, Kubrick does a bang-up job of translating the story verbatim in regards to plot and dialogue and such, the morbidly dark humor is also more immediately apparent thanks to all the upbeat classical pieces that play over the constant ultraviolence, and, like all of his efforts, he makes it look damn good. But the few liberties he does take are ones that definitely left me confused and bothered and are the primary reasons as to why this isn’t even an 8.
If you’ve ever heard through the movie nerd grapevine that some folks out there don’t like Kubrick because his movies are misogynistic, A Clockwork Orange is at times a prime example of that argument even if that statement might sound absurd. Not really sure what I think of the guy quite yet, but in contrast to the source material, Kubrick over-sexualized this movie in a big ol’ way. I get the whole dystopian/uber-deviant vibe he’s going for, and there is a good deal of nudity and whatnot in the novel, but after a while Kubrick makes it feel like nudity and rape to the point of excess instead of nudity and rape for a purpose.
What’s the thinking behind turning a crazy cat woman that gets killed by a statue to the head into a closet sex fiend that gets killed by a giant, ceramic cock to the mouth? That’s just one of numerous examples and it’s that kinda shit that makes me wonder “Why?” Same kinda issue I had with Zack Snyder turning Watchmen into a complete and utter bloodbath.
Why?
The other thing is that when Burgess first published the novel overseas, American publishers made him take out the last chapter, leaving us with the ending that Kubrick ultimately provides us with. My issue here is that Kubrick knew about the last chapter and decided to leave it out regardless of Burgess’ protesting. I don’t know, maybe it’s just because I love the last chapter, and I know it’s Kubrick’s call anyway, but it still seems like a dick move even if the ending isn’t all that bad as is.
But everything else is pretty swell, though a lot of that is because of Burgess anyway.
Malcolm McDowell was a good choice for our humble narrator, Alex DeLarge, and, like I said, the story is still very much intact. It’s also something else to see the whole thing brought to life and that outfit of Alex’s sure doesn’t come across as wonderfully as it does in text.
So, personal gripes aside, A Clockwork Orange is nevertheless a brilliant story, brilliantly told about the cost of humanity and the ethics of free will that will entertain, shock and undoubtedly stick with you. Apologies for turning this into a “book vs. movie” review, because I usually hate writing those, but since I’m such a fan, this is where I’m at. If you haven’t seen this yet, take a stab at the book first, and if decoding Alex’s language ends up being more frustrating than rewarding (which is entirely understandable), you’ll still probably dig the movie. And if you already love this thing, at least hop on over to Barnes and Noble and check out the last chapter. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Team America: World Police (2004)
VERDICT:
9/10 Freedom Fries
You will never look at Thunderbirds the same way again.
Team America: World Police is about a Broadway actor who’s recruited to act as a spy for an elite anti-terrorism task force that bleeds red, white and blue so that they can infiltrate and eliminate any and all threats to everyone everywhere regardless of collateral damage. On the other end of the spectrum is tyrannical North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il who’s heading up a global regime of terror while recruiting politically active members of the Film Actors Guild (mind the initials) to help take over the world and take down Team America in the process.
It’s pretty much a big ol’ tongue-in-cheek middle finger to all the uber-Americana machismo that dominated everything over here after 9/11, the G. W. Bush administration and their penchant to kick ass on a global level even if it didn’t really involve the U.S. of A. to begin with, and a ton of other things that all kind of culminated with that “Boot in Your Ass” ditty by Toby Keith. It’s also the brainchild of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, so there’s also a fair amount of F-bombs and dick jokes to send it all home.
Now, I’m a fan of Parker and Stone. Call them whatever you like, but those guys have some huge balls and are not afraid to speak their mind on whatever idiocy is hitting the front pages no matter how sacred or taboo. But this isn’t about 9/11, they’re not stupid enough to make fun of that, instead it’s the unlikely swan song of everything after the tragedy that started with Will Ferrell in a patriotic diaper and ended with this bunch of foul-mouth, horny, and ultra-violent puppets.
And it’s this strange mix of the surprisingly smart and the wildly immature that makes it all work so well while delivering non-stop laughs, despite how cringe-inducing it can occasionally be.
There’s not much to say about the acting or directing here, but for a script that manages to successfully create a compelling argument regarding the Democratic and Republican outlooks towards American involvement in a questionable war via a speech about the necessity of assholes, dicks and pussies is something to be appreciated. And while a lot of it is just funny writing, the movie’s at its best when it is absolutely ruthless, and let me tell ya, it is fucking ruthless.
Parker and Trey freakin’ harpoon any and all actors who ever threw their fame around to speak their mind on the war like you wouldn’t believe, no one is safe, even poor Matt Damon, and they have a downright field day with all the post-9/11 fear-mongering that went down with choice lines like:
“It would be 9/11 times 100.”
“9/11 times a hundred? Jesus, that’s…”
“Yes, 91,100.”
“Basically all the worst parts of the Bible.”
And if that weren’t enough, it’s all set to songs like “America, Fuck Yeah”, “Derka Derk (The Terrorist Theme)” and “Freedom Isn’t Free” (it apparently costs a buck-o-five) to make sure we all got the message incase we’re still laughing it up to “Everyone Has Aids” or “Montage” (which explains how montages work while being played over a montage itself).
But I love movies like this that take something old and manage to make it feel brand spankin’ new. Screw Pixar, screw human beings, screw colored pencils and screw clay, the marionette thing was a freakin’ stroke of brilliance on Parker and Stone’s behalf. Not only is it impressive as hell and must have been painstaking in its own way to make an action movie involving puppets, but it creates a whole new slew of priceless jokes and gags that you can’t get using other mediums.
Sex scenes are now hilarious, so is walking down a hallway, so is hand-to-hand combat, and let’s not forget about those brutal executions, those are now certified knee-slappers. Just like with South Park, I think people would be a lot more upset by what goes down in this movie if it were acted out by real people, but since it’s puppets, Parker and Stone can get away with murder. I could see some Tea Partiers roasting this baby over a freedom-fueled open bonfire, but let’s not kid ourselves, y’all, we are dealing with effing dolls here.
Also love all the little details thrown into the mix like having an actual human painted in silver play a towering statue of Kim Jong-il, or how all the streets in France are cement carvings of croissants, and then there’s the “panthers” that show up at the end. Awesome stuff.
Team America is gross, profane, rude, juvenile, and as politically incorrect as they come, but it’s also insanely funny, completely original, seriously gutsy and one of the best damn satires out there. Not sure that this exactly everyone’s cup of tea, but if you can take a joke and aren’t reading this in your American flag boxer-briefs, then go ahead, give it a shot, you’ve earned yourself a good laugh, bucko. And like I said, it’s puppets, I think we can afford lighten up when it comes to puppets.
Still not a fan of BASEketball though.
Monster’s Ball (2001)
VERDICT:
8/10 Bad Dads
Who knew that Jungle Fever and The Green Mile would make for such a good combo?
Monster’s Ball is about a racist, Southern corrections officer whose non-racist, Southern son is doing his best to make his pa’ and racist, Southern grandpa proud by getting into the corrections field without turning into an evil bigot himself. Then one day our estranged father and son execute a prisoner on death row, and through a course of incredibly grim events, the father strikes up an unlikely, yet genuine relationship with the prisoner’s grieving, African-American widow.
This does not sit well with the racist, Southern grandpa. Quiet family dinners are out of the question.
So outside of Halle and her well-deserved Oscar, the one thing I always heard about this movie is that it’s a major Debbie Downer, and it probably helps to know this going in because that statement’s pretty darn accurate. The first hour is depressing as hell, there is hate to spare and things don’t really start to get better until they can’t get any worse, but lucky for us there’s that whole second half where we finally glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s not on par with, say, Mississippi Burning plus Requiem for a Dream, but still, it’s some dark stuff that ends up working really, really well.
The thing I liked most about this script is that for all the bawling and hate-mongering, it’s a generally quiet movie that chooses its words wisely. There aren’t really any shouting matches, it’s just very emotional characters brought to life by an incredibly well-casted group of actors who make a little go a long way when it comes to speaking their minds. In someone else’s hands, I could easily see this kind of story line snowballing into an overwhelming parade of N-words and blind hatred, but it never gets to that point as it winds up focusing more on the human aspects of its characters rather than their prejudices.
Good stuff, and the cast is solid, too.
Even though I need to re-watch Sissy Spacek’s turn from In the Bedroom again, Halle Berry sure went all out on this one. Regardless of my conspiracy theory that sporting your birthday suit makes you a shoo-in for an Oscar, she’s very raw and very vulnerable as our widow, Leticia. Despite how gorgeous she is on her worst day, Halle does a bang-up job of shedding that Hollywood glamour as her character continues to break down from the inside out. And that “Make me feel good” scene with her and Billy Bob was crazy.
But Billy Bob is awesome, too. The guy’s done a whole lot of crap as of late, but he is no freakin’ joke when he’s in the right role. Just look at Sling Blade, A Simple Plan or even Bad Santa, Billy Bob’s got some chops and it’s great when those skills of his rise to the surface like they do here. He turns Hank into one seriously cold-hearted, mean bastard and the strange thing about it is that I found myself less interested in him as he started to change his ways. He plays a fine ex-racist, but, man, was he one convincingly bigoted good ol’ boy and it added a lot to the character. Not to say that racists are more interesting or anything ridiculous like that, the dude just plays a better asshole than he does an asshole with a heart of gold is all.
Peter Boyle’s also great as the grandpa who makes Hank look like Ronald McDonald. Think Rodney Dangerfield in Natural Born Killers, that’s Peter Boyle in Monster’s Ball. So weird listening to a geyser of racial slurs explode from the mouth of Frank Barone, but that’s probably an extra reason for why it works.
And then there’s Heath Ledger as Hank’s son, Sonny, and, naturally, Heath is the bomb. Not to sound like a broken record, but it’s movies like this that remind me of how truly talented he was. Doing this right off the heels of A Knight’s Tale was a bold move in the right direction.
I’m now noticing that I’ve said a lot about the acting and not a whole lot about anything else that makes Monster’s Ball worthy of an 8, but sometimes a strong cast and a modest, character-driven script centered around some damaged folks is all you really need. The final Act isn’t quite as engaging as its ruthless start and I almost wish it had more of a mean streak running throughout if only because those moments brought out the best in the cast, but this is a damn good movie all the same that may very well shake you right up.
Though I’m still not quite sure why they gave it that title considering its reference is only mentioned in passing, and even then it didn’t seem to matter much. Sounds like a weird-ass porno if you ask me.
And the best Robin Hood is…
CARY ELWES!
It’s been a loooong time since I’ve seen Men in Tights, but apparently I’ve been missing out. Can’t say the dude had all that much competition, but I still would have voted for the cartoon.
Nevertheless, we have our winner. Way to help us forget about your performance in Saw, Cary.
What a cry-baby.
RESULTS:
– Errol Flynn: 10 votes
– The Disney version: 15 votes
– Kevin Costner: 7 votes (he fought for us, lied for us, walked the wire for us and would go so far as to die for us…what a guy)
– Cary Elwes: 18 votes
– Russell Crowe: 1 vote (Ouch. I predict a phone to the face any minute now)
Always helps to have Dave Chappelle as one of your merry men.
MacGruber (2010)
VERDICT:
8/10 Handymen
The best thing that’s happened to SNL since lazy Sundays and dicks in boxes.
MacGruber is about a legendary ex-Green Beret/Marine/starting college QB that specializes in making life-saving inventions out of household materials who comes out of retirement to take down the billionaire-turned-terrorist that killed his wife before he unleashes a nuke on US soil. The only problem is that, despite his badass demeanor, MacGruber’s a freakin’ idiot and makes getting the job done a hell of a lot harder for him and his team than it has any reason needs to be.
Yup, it’s based off the SNL skit of the same name and, I gotta say, I’m effing flabbergasted that they managed to get a full-length script out of this thing. There was really no story to be had other than “let’s just make fun of MacGyver in three one-minute intervals”, and while the story here isn’t much to write home about either, it works like a Swiss watch for what the crew’s trying to accomplish.
MacGruber is a stupid, crude movie that doesn’t have a whole lot to say outside of how ridiculous the ’80s were, but it’s stupid done right and that goes a long way. A lot of it boils down to MacGruber acting like he’s the shit and then proving himself to be a complete moron in one life-and-death situation after another, and that’s a solid formula in itself, but there are a handful of running gags involving seemingly insignificant interactions like someone cursing at MacGruber from their car or MacGruber carrying around his vintage Blaupunkt stereo at all times that never get old no matter how many times it comes up.
It’s endlessly entertaining watching MacGruber try to whip up exceedingly useless crap with stalks of celery, large brown eggs and whatever the hell else he can get his hands on, it’s just a well-written script that totally plays into how ridiculous it all is and gives its cast a lot of choice stuff to work with.
On that note, I hope Will Forte starts going places after this because he is a riot as MacGruber. He plays up the smug bastard shtick to a tee and just watching the guy swear like crazy and contort his face to the point where it looks like his head is gonna explode a la Scanners is funny the first time and stays that way throughout. Can’t say Forte’s ever been one of my favorite SNL cast members, but he’s definitely moving up the ranks.
Ryan Phillippe’s decent as MacGruber’s non-idiot sidekick, Lt. Piper, and even though he seems like an odd fit for most of the movie, I never really pegged him to submit to such humiliating behavior with a smile on his face. It’s not like Jeff Daniels blowing an o-ring in Dumb and Dumber, but points to the guy for loosening up and taking it in stride. Kristen Wiig’s not bad either as MacGruber’s other sidekick/possible romantic interest, Vicki St. Elmo, but I’m getting tired of her whole soft-talking bit that she always does. Still not really sure what the hype around her is about.
And a nearly unrecognizable Val Kilmer’s pretty amusing as our terrorist, Dieter Von Cunth. The story of how him and MacGruber went from friends to rivals is still making me giggle like an idiot.
So if you’re like me and you think that the MacGruber skit is one of the best things SNL has going for it along with the Digital Shorts, then you’re good to go, you’re gonna have a fuckin’ time with this one. But I know a couple folks who don’t like the skit, saw this anyway and still found themselves howling like lunatics throughout, so it’s a win-win for everyone. Awesome!
Man, I really have no idea why this movie has 50-something percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes right now because I saw this on a full stomach and nearly started dry-heaving from laughing so hard. It really is that funny, it’s a borderline 9 to be honest and along with Get Him to the Greek, 2010 is shaping up to be one damn good year for comedies. Been a while since SNL had a good movie to associate with.
And if you wanna get an idea of Will Forte getting intense, check this out.
Cut The Crap Movie Reviews 
