When “Saturday Night Live” characters journey from sketch toscreen, they often appear lost away from their live studiohabitat.
The first “SNL” movie, 1980’s “The Blues Brothers,” was also thebest, as anyone who recalls the “two honkies dressed like Hasidicdiamond merchants” can attest.
Since then, there’s been “Wayne’s World,” but most of theadaptations have resulted in films like “Coneheads” (1993) and”It’s Pat” (1994). Others like Molly Shannon’s “Superstar” (1999)and Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell’s “A Night at the Roxbury” (1998)have their cult defenders, but the big-screen “SNL” output has beencheckered at best.
Sometimes, a character hasn’t seemed quite deserving ofmovie-length attention, (see Stuart Smalley, played by Al Franken,in 1995’s “Stuart Saves His Family”). Other times, the adaptationshave struggled to go beyond the original one-joke premise (see TimMeadows’ 2000 film “The Ladies’ Man”).
Enter “MacGruber.”
Little about Will Forte’s parody of the ’80s adventure series”MacGyver” would seem befitting big-screen adaptation. Since thesketches began airing in January 2007, they’ve been remarkablysimilar: MacGruber gets distracted while assembling household itemsto try to deactivate a ticking time bomb. He and his assistantsexplode in a perfectly timed finale.
Forte, himself, never thought the sketches had any cinematicviability. Yet when he was approached about making “MacGruber” intoa film, he couldn’t turn it down.
The resulting movie, which opens Friday, is very much an “SNL”creation: It’s produced by Lorne Michaels, directed by “SNL” writerJorma Taccone, and written by Forte, Taccone and John Solomon,another writer on the show.
“Some people have already developed opinions one way or anotherabout `SNL’ movies,” Forte said. “I hope they give it achance.”
One thing going for it: “MacGruber,” the film, doesn’t feel likea 90-minute sketch. Forte and company expanded the story into a`80s action film parody. MacGruber never leaves his red Miatawithout his car stereo, on which he blasts Toto and Mr. Mister.
“People seem to want to throw this into this `SNL’ bag, which isgreat if they’re talking about `Blues Brothers’ or ‘Wayne’s World,’but might not be great if they’re talking about other movies,” saysForte. “We never were looking at this as an ‘SNL’ movie, we werejust looking at this as a movie.”
They kept “the character and the clothes and the attitude andnothing else,” Forte says.
“From a very early point in the writing process, we realizedthat if we just went for 90 minutes doing the sketch over and overagain, people would get sick of it after about 90 seconds,” hesays.
Though Forte, a former writer for the “Late Show with DavidLetterman” and “3rd Rock from the Sun,” temporarily succeeded WillFerrell in playing former President George W. Bush, hiscontributions since joining the show in 2002 have generally leanedaway from the topical and toward the absurd.
One of his early characters was Tim Calhoun, an exceedinglysoft-spoken and wooden politician. In one memorable sketch, heplayed the ponytailed lead singer of a morning talk show houseband, leading them from soothing sounds to —- after downing abottle of whiskey — a primal jam, screaming “Go ThunderbirdSpirit!”
That odd sense of humor transfers to the R-rated “MacGruber.”But the “SNL” process, which goes from a pitch meeting to atable-read to dress rehearsal before airing live, is constantlyformed through feedback and audience reception.
Former “SNL” cast member Chris Kattan, who played characterslike Mango and Mr. Peepers, also had a surreal quality on the show.Like Forte, he came up through the Groundlings, the Los Angelesimprov comedy troupe.
Kattan said the adaptation process was considerable for “A Nightat the Roxbury”; the sketch’s head-bopping characters basicallydidn’t talk, so they needed voices. He and Ferrell, he says, “hadno idea” and went into the process “just along for the ride.”
“You have to trust the character and trust the story line andtrust that it’s OK that you’re not going to get laughs everytwo-seconds,” says Kattan. “That’s hard at first to get used tobecause you’re trained on the Groundlings and on ‘SNL’ to getlaughs every five-seconds.”
Kattan was surprised the Roxbury guys were chosen to be madeinto a film, though he believes a guest appearance by Jim Carreysparked the spinoff. The “MacGruber” sketches similarly received aboost when they were used for a Pepsi Super Bowl commercial.Relativity Media took up producing the film, which UniversalPictures is distributing.
There haven’t been any “SNL” spinoffs since “Ladies Man,” butMichaels has helped find other, often fruitful avenues for “SNL”talent.
With Tina Fey, he produced the films “Mean Girls” and “BabyMama,” and her acclaimed TV series “30 Rock.” He produced the film”Hot Rod” with Andy Samberg, and is executive producer of “LateNight with Jimmy Fallon.”
“I tend to want to work with the comedy people who I share Isensibility with,” says Michaels. “It’s much more driven by thatthan any other kind of consequence.”
Michaels, too, divorces “MacGruber” from any previous “SNL”spinoffs.
“I don’t think you can compare it to anything that’s comebefore,” says Michaels. “I would only make one of these movies if Ithought there was more to it than we were able to do on theshow.”
“MacGruber”
Starring: Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Val Kilmer, Ryan Phillippe,Rhys Coiro
Director: Jorma Taccone
Studio: Rogue Pictures
Rated: R for strong crude and sexual content, violence, languageand some nudity
Running time: N/A
