MOVIE OF THE WEEK (10/25/13): JACKASS PRESENTS BAD GRANDPA
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Johnny Knoxville, Jackson Nicoll, and a bunch of unsuspecting Midwest/Southern folks.
WRITER(S): Johnny Knoxville, Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine (screenplay); Johnny Knoxville, Spike Jonze, Fax Bahr and Adam Small (story)
DIRECTOR(S): Jeff Tremaine
60 SECOND PLOT SYNOPSIS: What happens when you put Jackass star Johnny Knoxville in Nutty Professor style makeup and dress him as Irving Zisman, a recently widowed 86 year-old man traveling cross-country with his grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll)? Well, if you are the unsuspecting general public, a whole lot of things.
Really, really, REALLY messed up – and potentially hilarious – things.
Really, really, REALLY messed up – and potentially hilarious – things.
WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST?: People who like Jackass (and/or Sacha Baron Cohen) movies – 'nuff said.
WHO WON'T LIKE THIS FILM?: Are you not a fan of Jackass? Not sure? Watch an episode/previous movie on YouTube or Netflix and see if you can handle all the profanity, nudity and outrageous stunts. If you have to look away, look away!
BOTTOM LINE – IS IT GOOD, GREAT, BAD OR DOWNRIGHT AWFUL? Very good – if you like Jackass movies or the TV show. If not ... Well ... Just cover your eyes, leave the theater and see something else like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.
WHAT'S GOOD (OR BAD) ABOUT IT?: Like the other reali-comedy films preceding it, Bad Grandpa is a ribald, over-the-top comedy releasing a character who should know better (in this case, star Johnny Knoxville's 86 year-old dirty old man) on an unsuspecting public. And as one might suspect, when you have a (supposed) senior citizen acting in a terrible and unexpected fashion, let alone once he brings a child (Jackson Nicoll) into the mix.
The thing that makes Bad Grandpa work so well, however, is the way in which Knoxville and Nicoll work as a team to unleash hell upon their unsuspecting victims. Able to shine on their own, they are best when they are together, taking on all races, ages and genders with relentless comedic aplomb, all for the audience's delight. Of course, if you don't like nudity, bad behavior and/or placing unsuspecting people into potentially hostile situations.
If none of those things are a concern, however, you'll likely love watching the over-the-top physical humor, the faces people make at Knoxville and Nicoll's actions – the movie could be subtitled "watch the reactions black people have to this crazy stuff" – and just how dedicated they are to their craft. To say more than that would be a discredit to the comedic skill the duo, under the direction of Jeff Tremaine, exhibit. Unlike Baron Cohen's Borat or The Dictator, however, there is no mean-spirited/social commentary, look-at-how-stupid-many-people-in-America undercurrent to Bad Grandpa. That helps make the film enjoyable from start to finish for everyone who decides to come along for the wild ride.
And in the words of Run-DMC, Bad Grandpa isn't bad meaning bad but bad meaning good.
The thing that makes Bad Grandpa work so well, however, is the way in which Knoxville and Nicoll work as a team to unleash hell upon their unsuspecting victims. Able to shine on their own, they are best when they are together, taking on all races, ages and genders with relentless comedic aplomb, all for the audience's delight. Of course, if you don't like nudity, bad behavior and/or placing unsuspecting people into potentially hostile situations.
If none of those things are a concern, however, you'll likely love watching the over-the-top physical humor, the faces people make at Knoxville and Nicoll's actions – the movie could be subtitled "watch the reactions black people have to this crazy stuff" – and just how dedicated they are to their craft. To say more than that would be a discredit to the comedic skill the duo, under the direction of Jeff Tremaine, exhibit. Unlike Baron Cohen's Borat or The Dictator, however, there is no mean-spirited/social commentary, look-at-how-stupid-many-people-in-America undercurrent to Bad Grandpa. That helps make the film enjoyable from start to finish for everyone who decides to come along for the wild ride.
And in the words of Run-DMC, Bad Grandpa isn't bad meaning bad but bad meaning good.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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