Jackass: The Movie

Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Ryan Dunn, Jason "Wee Man" Acuna, Preston Lacy, Dave England, Ehren McGhehey, Tony Hawk, Spike Jonze, Henry Rollins
Directed by: Jeff Tremaine
Rating: R
Comedy, Documentary
2002

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Johnny Knoxville and his friends perform a series of dangerous stunts and disgusting gags.

Review:

Tim: Jackass: The Movie shouldn't really work as a concept, and it certainly shouldn't work as a movie. It is just as dumb, gross, and moronic as you might expect. However, it's also far more entertaining than it has any right to be. I want to be clear up front that I'm not a fan of this type of humor or the message it sends. People taking huge, dangerous risks for a laugh isn't something that I think should be praised or celebrated. This is stupid, and I can't imagine what it's like to put your body through this kind of punishment.

That being said, I'm glad these guys are so willing to put themselves in harm's way for our entertainment. I don't like the idea, but it's pretty entertaining regardless. The film surprisingly works, even though it's just a series of random stupid acts. The ideas would have gotten old if this were any longer than 87 minutes, but it mostly works. The scenes move along quickly enough so there's very little time to get bored or to think about how asinine all of this is.

I have to say that the stunts and gags I appreciate the most are when the Jackass guys do things that only hurt themselves. If they are willing to suffer pain or personal humiliation for our sakes, that's okay with me. The parts of the film I don't like are when they bring pain or suffering on someone else. For example, Bam Margera's treatment of his parents is horrible and those scenes only detract from the film. The same goes for when someone punches someone else in the balls- not cool, and has real-life health risks associated with it. So, if you are willing to don rocket skates, that's fine with me. However, I simply disliked the mean spirited pranks on other people.

The reason I didn't like this movie more is because the film is very, very uneven. Some scenes are absolutely hilarious- others are just very stupid. I laughed and laughed at the underwear bungy jumping. It's so stupid, but so funny as well. The funniest scenes are the ones where they come up with some elaborate stunt that is clearly going to hurt- and yet, they do it anyway. However, we also have far too many scenes of people dressed up as elderly people, doing things elderly people wouldn't do. Those scenes were mostly awful.

While I like many of the cast members for their various stunts, I have to give it to Johnny Knoxville as the "leader" of the group. Knoxville knows what his role is, and he's more willing than anyone to put himself into harm's way for a stunt. He suffered a serious injury in the golf cart flipping scene, and was actually knocked out by Butterbean. It seems like anytime there's a dangerous moment or a painful one, Knoxville is more than willing to sign himself up. I respect that.

While there are some very funny moments in Jackass: The Movie Unfortunately, there's also too many bad moments. The unevenness of the film hurts it. I laughed more than I should have, but not as much as I would have liked. This movie is fine if you like this kind of thing, but I have to believe this could have been much better.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Jackass Number Two, Jackass 3D