Jackass Presents: A Bad Grandpa With Heart

I am a Jackass completest. I like the crew because there is no animosity or smugness just an urge to hurt themselves for laughs. A lot of it is immature but they’ve encapsulated something that most people relate to. They all seem like good friends who genuinely appreciate the Jackass companionship. It is hard to replicate what they’ve got and that is why they’ve stayed relevant over the years. Not all of their jokes hit. However, when they do they are hilarious, inventive and always dangerous.

The latest film is a stylistically different beast with a complete narrative and few characters. Bilge Ebiri wrote a wonderful review of Bad Grandpa that struck a chord with me. I realize I should be coming up with my own thoughts on the film but his piece encapsulated everything that is right.

Knoxville & Co. go out and find a world that’s largely populated by decent, honest people: The onlookers here do express bewilderment, but it’s mixed often with concern or with joy. They even tolerate him when he rolls up, drunk, inside a shopping cart at a drive-thru window and starts asking for poontang. By and large, our nation’s unsuspecting bystanders come off pretty well in this movie. For all the fecal matter flying around, and all the dick jokes, Bad Grandpa turns out to be an act of redemption: It’s the anti-Borat. And for all its flaws, it might just be the most heartwarming movie of the year.

Bad Grandpa has heart but it also features Knoxville sharting on a wall (Match that Phillip Seymour Hoffman), his testicles hang low and his penis gets stuck in soda machine. Despite the male strippers, penguin destruction and talk of sex the film remains friendly and doesn’t take advantage of the unknowing participants. Borat and Bruno went the easy route of lampooning idiotic Americans who wouldn’t look good in any light. Those movies were too easy and relied on Cohen pushing his subjects to danger/anger. In Bad Grandpa you watch as a funeral choir struggles to sing as the body of Irvin’s dead wife lies on the floor. Patience is accomplished.

The film revolves around recently widowed Irving Zisman taking his grandchild cross-country. Irving’s daughter is in jail for drugs and the only place for the boy is his deadbeat dad’s home in North Carolina. In true road trip fashion the two start off at odds but then become best buds. Together, they infiltrate a beauty pageant, destroy a wedding cake and fart a lot.

I am biased because I love all things Jackass. However, I enjoyed my time with Irving and laughed when he took out a blender to make margaritas whilst playing bingo. The scripted scenes play oddly with the hidden camera shenanigans but at least the Jackass crew were trying something new. Bad Grandpa was an experiment that paid off and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Watch Bad Grandpa. Appreciate the patience. Enjoy the ride. Don’t shart.