Jackass: The Movie
(2002)
review by Head Cheeze

"Honey, are you going to stay up all night watching war?"

This question, posed to me by my girlfriend at 2 a.m. on a Monday evening, echoed in my subconscious for hours afterward. The current war in Iraq had become something of an obsession on my part, with most of my waking hours dedicated to staring glossy eyed at television news coverage awaiting the next nugget of useless commentary, throwaway facts, and battlefield snapshots. It wasn't until this question really settled in that I began to see the utter absurdity of it all.

War had become a morbidly fascinating twenty four hour a day version of Survivor. It was no longer an act of agression between two countries, but, instead, the ultimate reality T.V. show. I most definitely needed a break. I looked over at my pile of "yet-to-watch" flicks (that grew with each passing day of battle) and decided I needed cheering up.

Enter Jackass.

Now, let me first get this out of the way. Jackass is (or was before MTV cancelled it) a popular show in which a bunch of borderline personalities did things to shock, amuse, and, ultimately, injure one another. The show evolved from the popular underground skate-punk series CKY (Camp Kill Yourself), which featured lots of dangerous stunts, pranks involving feces, and things MTV could never air bar their expulsion from the broadcasting community on this plane of existance. Jackass: The Movie revisits the taboo of it's kin through the magic of an R-rating and the results are disgusting, pointless, and funnier than anything I've seen in years.

The "film" opens with a grandiose scene of the principal Jackasses (Johnny Knoxville, Wee Man, Stevo-O, Bam, et al) riding in an oversized grocery cart across a bridge rigged with explosives. This scene is a hilarious ruse in which the cast poke fun at the very notion that their little show is now a major motion picture. It's hilarious because, once that scene ends, the film reverts to the same handheld video camera aesthetic of the television show. You see, the Jackass guys don't need money to do what they do, but if you give them some, they'll find some way to use it, and, more often than not, the results are hilarious.

Take for example Rent-A-Car Demolition Derby, in which Knoxville, with hidden hat cam in tow, rents a nice car and summarily destroys it in a demolition derby, and then returns said vehicle and explains to the awestruck owner that he "hit a dog". Knoxville then explains he was drunk when he signed the contracts, and flees. While I'm sure that after the prank was over the producers smoothed things out, during it's execution the encounter between Knoxville and the rental agency is as uncomfortable to watch as it is howlingly funny. Other vignettes include a man shoving a toy car in his rectum and going for X-Rays, filling sheer bathing suits with fish to feed Whale Sharks from their crotches, and setting off a garbage can full of fireworks in Bam Margera's parent's bedroom at 4:00 am.

Jackass: The Movie is a film that is so repulsive (view the Off-Road Tatoo segment without wincing, and I'll give ya a shiny nickel) and ridiculous that it...well...it shouldn't exist! No one in their right mind would ever attempt half of the things these guys seem to relish. It's humour at it's most base level, but it's astoundingly funny nonetheless.

The DVD from Paramount/MTV is chock full of bonus goodies, including two commentary tracks (one with Knoxville and one with the whole cast), an outtakes reel, a behind the scenes documentary, music videos, and more. Depending on where you buy the DVD, you even get a bonus prize of an official Jackass wrist-band, or bumper sticker. Neither of these extra doo-dads will ever see the light of day on my wrist or car, but I'm sure someone out there will cherish them as much as I cherish my Halloween snow globe from the 25th Anniversary VHS set (even though the water inside has turned a murky brown and looks as though Michael Myers is stalking Laurie Strode through sewage).

Jackass is not for the high-brow types, but if the thought of a guy shooting a bottle rocket out of his ass makes you smile, then, boy, have I got a film for you.

I haven't laughed this hard since I stopped dropping acid.