Rating: R for strong crude and sexual content, violence, language and some nudity
Directed by Jorma Taccone (first feature film)
Starring: Will Forte, Ryan Phillippe, Kristen Wiig and Val Kilmer
I guess this is one bomb MacGruber couldn’t defuse.
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.
I refuse to spend a lot of time on this review. MacGruber is funny as a 90 second skit on Saturday Night Live, MacGruber is not funny as a 90 minute film. Besides running the same joke into the ground, they really pushed the envelope with the language…even adding several F-bombs to the theme song. Ridiculous.
Some of the previews were funny, but this film is a Coaster for sure.
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Definitely not.
Side Note:
As said above, we don’t recommend your kids see this film. But on the occasion that they actually have already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
Q: What was the theme (or the message) of this movie?
A: Ummm…this is a stretch because the movie was so ridiculous, but let’s go with “true heroes save the world.”
Granted, MacGruber is no real hero, and he couldn’t save the world if his life depended on it. But, the world we live in is in desperate need of TRUE heroes.
Q: What can we—as serious Christ-followers—take away from this movie?
A: If we are following Christ – truly following Christ – then we have to take His words seriously. We have to lose our lives to find it, we have to take up our cross, we have to forgive others, we have to love others as ourselves, and so much more.
The Apostle Paul said that if we are obedient to Christ, and do the things He said, we can help others. Check out 1 Timothy 4:12-16.
12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Our lives need to be focused on saving others. According to Paul, these (and the rest of his instructions in chapter 4) are crucial in that task.
Q: How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
A: Heroes cannot be like MacGruber. Sorry, they just can’t. And neither can we be like MacGruber.
We can’t be a laughing stock to the world. We need to be trusted by others. We can’t be so immoral, ungodly, or crude. Our lives have to be holy. We can’t be so…sorry to sound harsh…stupid. We have to act wisely.
In short, if we want to be real heroes, we can’t be anything like MacGruber.
