Glen Powell charms on 'SNL,' and Will Forte as MacGruber returns to destroy the Epstein files

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If you’ve seen some of Glen Powell’s movies, including “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Hit Man,” “Anyone But You” or “Twisters,” you probably already know that a large part of the actor’s appeal is that he goes down smooth and easy.With good looks and lots of charm, he’s certainly leading man material.But there’s also a streak, particularly in his Richard Linklater film “Hit Man,” of a goofball comedy nerd dying to break out from that handsome shell (see also: Jon Hamm), even if he was there to promote a new action film, “The Running Man.”It sure feels like that sensibility is what helped make for a remarkable episode of “Saturday Night Live” with Powell hosting for the first time.

It was the silliest episode so far this season, and by some miracle, just about every sketch in the episode worked, at least on a basic comedic level.Powell wore wigs, most notably in a military sketch about bobs versus bangs; yes, the hairstyles.He did Norwegian and Irish accents in respective sketches about overenthusiastic actors in a Nordic film and one modeled after Liam Neeson’s “Taken” films.

He even wore a long ponytail and sang in a pre-recorded musical number about men who miss their ex-girlfriend’s dad (Powell was one of the dads).But he was also a great supporting player to Marcello Hernández in a sketch about comedian Sebatian Maniscalco at a bachelor party and one about a woman (Ashley Padilla) who joins friends at a restaurant after a disastrous hair salon visit.

And he did some good silent acting in a visual gag-driven sketch in which AI technology brings old photos to life badly.It was a week where even the return of former cast member Will Forte, who appeared in three new MacGruber sketches where the character finds out he’s in the Epstein files (explosions follow), didn’t fully overshadow a lot of other very good pieces.Two quick notes about...