Jackass: The Movie (2002)

"Jackass the Movie" defies just about every set law of film-making. It is rude, it is crude, and it is doggone hilarious. I can't really think of words to describe this film as none do so adequately. It is, of course, based upon the popular television show on MTV of the same name (except there's no "the Movie" on the end of it). Basically it is "Candid Camera" meets the X-Games meets drunkards. Its cast are a bunch of jackasses: Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Wee Man the Midget, Ryan Dunn, and Steve-O. They go around pulling various pranks, and sometimes - or most of the time - injuring themselves.

The humor is very selective - some will hate it and others (mainly stoned teens) will love it. Take, for instance, a gag where one of the men walks into a plumbing store and relieves himself into a display toilet. Things such as this have been insinuated before on a commercial I remember for Best Buy, but this movie shows everything - in detail - including the feces inside the toilet bowl.

Sound disgusting? Well it is. But some of the gags - for I can think of no other word to describe them - are just downright hilarious. For example, the co-creator of the TV series, Johnny Knoxville, borrows a car from a rental lot, takes it to a garage, has all the gears messed up and windows smashed, spray paints it, and then enters it into a car derby. He takes it back to the lot all smashed up and refuses to pay for the damage. He admits that he was drinking before it happened. He says they must help them pay for the damage to the vehicle. They point out that he signed a contract declaring that he would pay for all responsible damage, and he says, "Yeah, but I had a little to drink when I signed that, too."

The cast and crew seem to have not grown past the age of 13 in terms of maturity. One of the best gags involves about four men on a golf course blasting air horns during tee-offs. One golfer gets so angered that he throws a golf club at them and starts to actually tee off at the men (who are hiding behind trees on the course).

I've never quite witnessed something like "Jackass the Movie" before. It is like a giant unedited TV show stretched out to a full 80 + minutes, and let me say that this is the first time in history I have seen a TV-show-based film that I thought was too short. (Movies like "Night at the Roxbury" seem to go on forever.) "Jackass the Movie" is lots of fun - it isn't deep or intellectual, but it's fun.

This film is definitely going to gross-out certain people, and enthuse the more wacky crowds out there. But it is one of the most "technically" entertaining films of the year. It isn't a masterpiece but it is very fun to watch. Maybe I'm an immature sicko, but I liked this movie.

Before the film starts, there is a warning which reads something like "the stunts performed herein are executed by trained professionals." Let me ask: How does one train to be a jackass? This film doesn't tell us, but it sure does show us what trained jackasses are like. And you know what? Being a jackass looks fun.