Jackass: The Movie (***1/2)
review by Jon Waterman

Okay.  How do I rationalize this?  How do I say this?  This movie is really, really funny.  That was the easy part.  Describing why it’s funny may be tougher.
 
First things first.  The plot.  Well, there is no plot.  It’s a collection of stunts and acts of stupidity.  All I can say is, “Good.”  As my fellow filmbrat, Joe, has said, the movie would have been ruined had they tried to attach a story to all the good stuff (example:  "Extreme Ops"  --note:  haven’t seen that movie, nor do I want to).  The format is the same as the popular television show from whence this film came.
 
This review may be difficult to write, just because I don’t want to ruin anything for those who still want to see the movie and haven’t.  So, I will only mention a couple of specific segments.  For one, I do not understand the obsession with alligators.  They act as the epitome of danger to this group of thrill-seekers and it seems there could have been something different used a couple times or something more menacing.  Alligators move too slowly.
 
A big concern for viewers is how disgusting the film is and how difficult it is to watch.  Is it too gross?  Sometimes.  However, the segment that creates the biggest squirm is the paper cut segment.  I think this is because everyone knows what paper cuts feel like, not everyone knows what it is like to shove things up their anus, and even fewer people know what it is like to get hit in the stomach with riot prevention bullets.
 
Everyone knows this stuff hurts.  They don’t know to what degree it hurts so they can laugh about it.  No one in the audience will be forced to watch what they could construe as a reenactment of a traumatic incident in their life.  Watching other people get hurt and fall down is funny, plain and simple.  Watching idiots hurt themselves and push each other over somehow seems to be funnier.  Actually, no one is ever in any extreme danger.  The one who puts himself in some of the worst situations is the ringleader, Johnny Knoxville.  He takes a lot of big hits to prove to all that he isn’t just the voice of the group.
 
A giant factor as to why the movie is funny is the camera work and editing.  A lot of credit should be given to the group and to director Jeff Tremaine for recognizing how to make it funnier.  The element of surprise is a key tool in the segments.  As soon as you think you’re done laughing, something comes out of nowhere and makes you crack up again.
 
I would recommend this film to people of the targeted age group only.  Those outside of the marketed range may not enjoy the destructive and chaotic antics.  In fact many of the right age will not enjoy the disgusting and disturbing high jinks.  In short, those people that want to see it are probably the only ones that should.

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