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MacGruber

1/10

Stars: Will Forte, Ryan Phillippe, Kristen Wiig, Val Kilmer, Powers Boothe, Maya Rudolph

Director: Jorma Taccone

An inept spy spoof about an inept secret agent (Forte, a comedian without any discernible personality), obviously modelled on TV's MacGuyver. But, if MacGruber is so awful at everything he does, in hopefully funny contrast to the original, how come the Pentagon calls him out of retirement to retrieve a nuclear warhead stolen by arch-criminal Dieter von Kunth (Kilmer) - the name is made much of - and now aimed at the good ol' US of A?

Ah well, it is a comedy, albeit one with its head firmly in the toilet and devoid of laughs. Sloppy, too: when MacGruber's reformed team is blown up, he rushes to their van, crying 'Tug!', when Tug was the one ex-member who hadn't joined the team. Or maybe this is deliberate. It's difficult to tell with something this bad. 'You stink, MacGruber!' says his reluctant second-in-command (poor Phillippe). And he is so right.

David Quinlan

USA 2010. UK Distributor: Universal. Technicolor.
89 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 2.

Review date: 15 Jun 2010