MacGruber
MacGruber
Release Date: May 21, 2010
In the 10 years since his fiancée was killed, special op MacGruber has sworn off a life of fighting crime with his bare hands. But when he learns that his country needs him to find a nuclear warhead that's been stolen by his sworn enemy, Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer), MacGruber figures he's the only one tough enough for the job.
Writers: Will Forte, John Solomon, Jorma Taccone
Cast: Will Forte, Ryan Phillippe, Kristen Wiig, Val Kilmer, Powers Boothe, Maya Rudolph
Director: Jorma Taccone
Rating: Rated R for strong crude and sexual content, violence, language and some nudity.
Runtime: 1 Hr 24 Min
Only one American hero has earned the rank of Green Beret, Navy SEAL and Army Ranger. Just one operative has been awarded 16 purple hearts, 3 Congressional Medals of Honor and 7 presidential medals of bravery. And only one guy is man enough to still sport a mullet. In 2010, Will Forte brings Saturday Night Live's clueless soldier of fortune to the big screen in the action comedy MacGruber. In the 10 years since his fiancée was killed, special op MacGruber has sworn off a life of fighting crime with his bare hands. But when he learns that his country needs him to find a nuclear warhead that's been stolen by his sworn enemy, Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer), MacGruber figures he's the only one tough enough for the job.
Assembling an elite team of experts--Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe) and Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig)--MacGruber will navigate an army of assassins to hunt down Cunth and bring him to justice. His methods may be unorthodox. His crime scenes may get messy. But if you want the world saved right, you call in MacGruber.
MacGruber Premis
MacGruber is a recurring sketch on the NBC television series Saturday Night Live, first appearing on the show in January 2007. The sketch stars Will Forte as special operations agent MacGruber, who is tasked in each episode with deactivating a ticking bomb but becomes distracted by personal issues, resulting in the bomb's detonation and (presumably) the deaths of his companions and himself. The sketch is a parody of the 1985-1992 adventure series MacGyver.
In the sketch's first appearance of each SNL episode, MacGruber finds himself and his assistants trapped in a control room with a ticking time bomb. MacGruber's female assistant (played in 2007 by Maya Rudolph and later by Kristen Wiig) and another assistant (usually played by that week's SNL host) "recap" their situation, explaining that they are in an abandoned mine, abandoned factory, or other adventure-type setting, and that the bomb will detonate in twenty seconds. As he attempts to deactivate the bomb, MacGruber calls for people to pass him ordinary objects such as rubber bands or bubble gum wrappers (a reference to the sorts of objects typically used by MacGyver in devising a way out of a jam), but MacGruber inevitably loses focus before finishing the job and the bomb explodes, ending the sketch.
The sketch typically reappears for a second or third installment later in the episode, with the characters appearing none the worse for wear but MacGruber growing increasingly unhinged and his assistants becoming more disillusioned in his capabilities. Each installment ends with the bomb's detonation.
Some of the personal issues that have distracted MacGruber and prevented him from stopping the bomb include alcoholism, racism, his son's homosexuality, losing his savings in the stock market, and his fear of aging (for which he receives botched plastic surgery from South American doctors).
