Macgruber

"MacGruber," an R-rated comedy from Universal Pictures, opens Friday in general release. It did not screen for critics. The review will appear in Calendar and online at latimes.com/moviereviews as soon as it is available.

"Chuck" fans are probably already talking about it … Fans of the NBC show have demonstrated their devotion in just about every way possible. They've hit the streets, ambushing strangers into watching the beleagured spy action-comedy series. They've created ads promoting the show on craigslist, Facebook and free periodicals. They've even consumed a hefty amount of footlong sandwiches from "Chuck" sponsor, Subway. It's a tiring job. So why not take a minute to enjoy the actual series when the third season is released on DVD?

An episode of "Saturday Night Live" contains, on average, 11 sketches. Given the 35 (!) seasons of "SNL" and an average of 20 episodes per year, that makes for approximately 7,700 sketches written, rehearsed and performed on the influential comedy show. Out of that enormous trove of raw material, a handful of sketches have received the honor of being bulked up to feature-film length. After a decade-long hiatus (anyone remember 2000's "The Ladies Man," starring Tim Meadows?), "SNL" returns to the big screen Friday with the action-film parody "MacGruber," featuring cast members Will Forte and Kristen Wiig (joined by Ryan Phillippe, Powers Boothe and Val Kilmer)

Solitary Man Anchor Bay, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.99 Michael Douglas gives a terrific performance in "Solitary Man" as Ben, a disgraced, divorced car dealer trying to restart his business while hitting on any nearby young lady. A health scare remakes Ben into a man of rare honesty, and the best parts of the film show him sharing his views on salesmanship and sex with anyone who'll listen in scenes that showcase Douglas' mature charm. Douglas is strong enough to overcome the movie's worst parts too, which try to turn mundane midlife crises into high drama.

Spoiler alert: The title character of the movie "MacGruber," opening May 21, does not blow up every few minutes. That would be a reasonable presumption, though, considering that's always the outcome of the "Saturday Night Live" sketch on which the film is based and in which a rugged action-adventure hero gamely fails time and again to dismantle a bomb. Starring "SNL's" Will Forte as MacGruber and Kristen Wiig as his trusty sidekick, the film is rounded out with an unexpectedly straight-faced supporting cast, including Val Kilmer, Ryan Phillippe and Powers Booth.

Whipping up a movie based on a "Saturday Night Live" sketch isn't inherently a bad idea; it just seems that way based on a track record that's, well, sketchy. There's "Wayne's World," and then there's a lot of "A Night at the Roxburys." What probably appealed to the makers of "MacGruber" — co-writer/star Will Forte, and his writing collaborators John Solomon and Jorma Taccone, who also directed — was the idea that their mullet-sporting, special ops goofball almost cried out for the multiplex-sized mayhem treatment.

"Chuck" fans are probably already talking about it … Fans of the NBC show have demonstrated their devotion in just about every way possible. They've hit the streets, ambushing strangers into watching the beleagured spy action-comedy series. They've created ads promoting the show on craigslist, Facebook and free periodicals. They've even consumed a hefty amount of footlong sandwiches from "Chuck" sponsor, Subway. It's a tiring job. So why not take a minute to enjoy the actual series when the third season is released on DVD?

Solitary Man Anchor Bay, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.99 Michael Douglas gives a terrific performance in "Solitary Man" as Ben, a disgraced, divorced car dealer trying to restart his business while hitting on any nearby young lady. A health scare remakes Ben into a man of rare honesty, and the best parts of the film show him sharing his views on salesmanship and sex with anyone who'll listen in scenes that showcase Douglas' mature charm. Douglas is strong enough to overcome the movie's worst parts too, which try to turn mundane midlife crises into high drama.

When Josh and Ada Cottrell were expecting their first child four years ago, they wanted to give their son a name that embodied their beliefs and stood for something attainable. They wanted their little guy to be known not so much as a dreamer but a doer. So the Sherman Oaks couple named their son … Macgyver. "We got a lot of flak for it," Ada says. "People would tell us, 'You're setting him up to fail.' But my husband is a 'MacGyver.' And if he's going to be anything like his daddy, which I'm sure he is, he's going to be the kind of guy who can put together a sink with a paper clip and some chewing gum and 'MacGyver' it, so it'll work."

Kristen Wiig has just come off an average Saturday night, one that required her to wear a 2-foot-high wig, shuffle lethargically around a stripper pole and bury her face in Helen Mirren's cleavage. "I was like, 'Are you cool with this? 'Cause I'm really gonna get in there,'" Wiig said of rehearsing the "magical bosom" scene with the 65-year-old British actress. "She was like, 'Oh yeah. Do whatever you need to do and stay in there as long as you want.' And I did. It's pretty intense in there.

'MacGruber' MPAA rating: R for strong crude and sexual content, violence, language and some nudity Running time: 1 hour, 24 minutes Playing: In general release

"MacGruber," an R-rated comedy from Universal Pictures, opens Friday in general release. It did not screen for critics. The review will appear in Calendar and online at latimes.com/moviereviews as soon as it is available.

An episode of "Saturday Night Live" contains, on average, 11 sketches. Given the 35 (!) seasons of "SNL" and an average of 20 episodes per year, that makes for approximately 7,700 sketches written, rehearsed and performed on the influential comedy show. Out of that enormous trove of raw material, a handful of sketches have received the honor of being bulked up to feature-film length. After a decade-long hiatus (anyone remember 2000's "The Ladies Man," starring Tim Meadows?), "SNL" returns to the big screen Friday with the action-film parody "MacGruber," featuring cast members Will Forte and Kristen Wiig (joined by Ryan Phillippe, Powers Boothe and Val Kilmer)

When Josh and Ada Cottrell were expecting their first child four years ago, they wanted to give their son a name that embodied their beliefs and stood for something attainable. They wanted their little guy to be known not so much as a dreamer but a doer. So the Sherman Oaks couple named their son … Macgyver. "We got a lot of flak for it," Ada says. "People would tell us, 'You're setting him up to fail.' But my husband is a 'MacGyver.' And if he's going to be anything like his daddy, which I'm sure he is, he's going to be the kind of guy who can put together a sink with a paper clip and some chewing gum and 'MacGyver' it, so it'll work."

Spoiler alert: The title character of the movie "MacGruber," opening May 21, does not blow up every few minutes. That would be a reasonable presumption, though, considering that's always the outcome of the "Saturday Night Live" sketch on which the film is based and in which a rugged action-adventure hero gamely fails time and again to dismantle a bomb. Starring "SNL's" Will Forte as MacGruber and Kristen Wiig as his trusty sidekick, the film is rounded out with an unexpectedly straight-faced supporting cast, including Val Kilmer, Ryan Phillippe and Powers Booth.

One-hundred-million-dollar mega-openings are now long ago and "far, far away" for Shrek and pals. "Shrek Forever After," the fourth and purportedly final chapter in the most successful animated film series of all time, opened to $71.3 million, according to an estimate from distributor Paramount Pictures. That's 41% less than the opening weekend grosses of "Shrek the Third," which also had a mid-May release date in 2007. The actual number of people who saw the new film from DreamWorks Animation tumbled by more than half from its predecessor, when ticket-price inflation and 3-D surcharges are considered.