'MacGruber': I Saw It, So You Don't Have To!

Image Credit: Greg PetersMacGruber took sixth place this weekend, netting $4.1 million thanks to suckers like me. There were 13 people in my theater in downtown Brooklyn. I got to splay my ogre legs across about five empty chairs (just call me The Ultimate Tool) and turn my brain off for 82 minutes. It was one of the dumbest movies ever, but the experience was honestly pretty fun. I started cackling just a few seconds in at the slowed-down theme song during Will Forte’s sax solo. I guess you have to be in a certain mood!

One thing that surprised me (other than my appreciation for ridiculous ’80s music used to accompany sticky situations) was how much I liked Ryan Phillippe as Lt. Dixon Piper, the straight man to Will Forte’s MacGruber. I still find that I can’t conceive of Phillippe as anyone other than Sebastian Valmont from Cruel Intentions. Even his character’s trajectory was kind of similar, as Dixon went from impenetrable snob to loosened-up team player, the kind who (SPOILER ALERT but nobody cares) isn’t above using household materials — a celery stalk and his bubbleicious ass — to save the day.

If you enjoy the “MacGruber” sketch on SNL, you should see MacGruber. As long as you go into it expecting “zero” or “the worst,” you will probably laugh a lot. There are a bunch of subtle comedic moments amidst the spectacularly lame explosions. It’s not totally worthless, like a loaded gun.

Anyone else want to defend MacGruber?

Also:

EW’s review: ‘MacGruber’

Photo Gallery: 10 top ‘SNL’-character movies

Annie on Twitter: @EWAnnieBarrett