MacGruber 2010

Michael Phillips, At the Movies: Some of these two minute sketches look a little thin at 87 to 92 minutes. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: It's really funny for about 15 minutes, mildly amusing for 30 more and a bit of a bore for its other half. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: ... [succeeds] as a laser-sharp parody of all stripes of cliche-laden action blockbusters [and] as a consistently hilarious bad taste farce. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: MacGruber alternates quick bursts of laugh-out-loud funniness with long dry stretches. It isn't exactly good, but for audiences in search of nothing more than a few silly chuckles, it should prove good enough. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: All thing considered, MacGruber is a lot better than it should be. That still doesn't mean it's all that great. Read more

Amy Nicholson, Boxoffice Magazine: Today we dig anti-comedy, thinking that we discovered the joke, and director Jorma Taccone understands that odd tone of straight-faced, almost surrealist bluster Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The movie scores a few laughs with its startling use of bloody R-rated violence, and there are enjoyable turns by Kristen Wiig (as MacGruber's sidekick), Val Kilmer (as the international bad guy), and Powers Boothe (as the good guys' commanding officer) Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: MacGruber manages to move beyond sketch comedy dimensions, but at 99 minutes, it's still a reach. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: A naughty throwaway in all senses of the word throwaway -- 90 minutes of talented performers doing and saying dumb, crude stuff in pursuit of an elusive laugh, in a disposable action-comedy... Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: While this jury-rigged exercise may not be an explosion of laughs, it's no dud, either. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: To call MacGruber a total bomb is a bit much, but this comedy-action flick sure feels like it was put together with gum, shoelaces and a couple of sticky Twizzlers. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: There's a reason you've never seen the words "Will Forte" topping the billing of a major motion picture. After the throbbing flameball of unfunny that is MacGruber, you never will again. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: MacGruber is by no means a work of genius, or a piece of art, or even very good. But Forte and company have managed to make crude and lewd dunderheadedness laugh-out-loud funny here and there, and that, I guess, is something of an achievement. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: While it would be unfair to saddle MacGruber with the "worst SNL movie of all-time" moniker (I can think of at least two that are more painful to endure), its place on the vaunted 2010 Worst 10 list is assured. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: MacGruber breaks the jinx by putting the skit in the context of a 1980s action movie and creating its own brand of explosive lunacy. Read more

Sam Adams, Salon.com: The bibs and bobs are all in place, but the life-saving device never quite works as planned. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: There's a conceptual flaw at this movie's heart: By the very nature of the sketch, MacGruber can't succeed on the big screen. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: It's MacAwful. Read more

Rob Salem, Toronto Star: Another one of those flicks where anything worth laughing at is contained in the commercials. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Cut loose from the skit structure, screenwriters Forte, John Solomon and director Jorma Taccone seize upon a richer template, that of the ridiculous big-screen action-comedy refined by the Beverly Hills Cop movies. Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: How much mileage can a comedy get from a single joke? Quite a bit, judging from the guffaws-to-groaners ratio in MacGruber... Read more

Ruth McCann, Washington Post: You need a great character to make a bad thing good, and the action comedy MacGruber is sadly short on great characters. Read more