Over the years the often brilliant, albeit diabolical, television series of Jackass has branched out into the world of cinema and brought us feature length versions of the television shows. These had no story, no coherent narrative and gave us characters you would only know if you had watched the series. We allowed this however. Jackass fans were more than happy to witness these crazy stunts and pranks on the big screen and the box office returns proved that. Now though the Jackass crew's leader, Daddy Jackass, Johnny Knoxville has gone alone using one of the television show's funniest creations, Irving Zisman, the crudest Grandfather you will ever meet. Much like Sacha Baron Cohen did with Borat, Knoxville has taken a supporting character from an existing show and attempted to place a story around him, however unlike Borat this falls very flat on its face.
The main premise here is that Irving is asked to transport his grandson Billy cross country and deliver him to his selfish father after Billy's mother is told she is going to jail. What ensues is a relationship between grandfather and grandson interspersed with pointless pranks and rip-offs of previously done sketches.
What Bad Grandpa fails to accept is that it isn't a cinematic creation. The story is too weak and the funny moments have nothing to do with the narrative. These elements are there to shock but where Borat achieved greatness doing this Bad Grandpa falters as it divulges into crudity. Borat was funny as it enticed unsuspecting Americans into showing their true colours, all the while linking to Borat's journey in comparing the U, S of A to Kazakhstan. The audience were in on the joke and political elements were raised. Here however we witness Irving jam his penis into a vending machine and a shart that Phillip Seymour Hoffman would be proud of. The best jokes Knoxville and Tremaine have written have either been done before or are irrelevant to the story.
Bad Grandpa however does have its moments. There were times when the audience were in uproar, as was I. This doesn't however mean it worked as a story. This should have remained as a sketch show and the comedy moments would have created a very funny show. Instead attempting to transfer to the big screen the creators have highlighted how this character can't carry a story and should have been left to shock unsuspecting citizens with his antics on the small screen only.
Another comedy film whose comedy moments are surplus to the story it is telling is Ted but with Ted the characters were likable and enjoyable. Tremaine and Knoxville on the other hand ask us to side with a man who cons two removal men to move his dead wife as she is too heavy for him. Irving is a difficult man to like or enjoy being in his company.
The gags can be fun and at time laughter poured through the cinema but through the camera work it was obvious which frames were to be set-ups and which were to stitch together the weak plot. If the camera was in the car the shot was crystal clear and the dialogue tried to show emotional change in the characters. If it was in a public place the image was grainy and involved a ridiculous situation that somebody transporting a family member across the country would never get themselves into.
Jackass is a fantastic creation. It isn't everyone's cup of tea but it pushed boundaries and people enjoyed to watch. Unfortunately that show appears to have run out of steam and this branch off movie isn't good enough to carry the Jackass name. It may carry the names of the director and one of its stars but the shocking scenarios do not live up to what they have once achieved.
A few fart gags aside this drops like wind in an elevator. The weak story feels an afterthought in order to stitch together pre-planned jokes and some of the scenarios we have all seen before, especially the climax which is completely ripped off from Little Miss Sunshine, only in Little Miss Sunshine it had meaning. What we are left with here is an excuse for Knoxville to don an old suit and swing his balls to and fro. Made for TV perhaps but films like this shouldn't grace the big screen.
The main premise here is that Irving is asked to transport his grandson Billy cross country and deliver him to his selfish father after Billy's mother is told she is going to jail. What ensues is a relationship between grandfather and grandson interspersed with pointless pranks and rip-offs of previously done sketches.
What Bad Grandpa fails to accept is that it isn't a cinematic creation. The story is too weak and the funny moments have nothing to do with the narrative. These elements are there to shock but where Borat achieved greatness doing this Bad Grandpa falters as it divulges into crudity. Borat was funny as it enticed unsuspecting Americans into showing their true colours, all the while linking to Borat's journey in comparing the U, S of A to Kazakhstan. The audience were in on the joke and political elements were raised. Here however we witness Irving jam his penis into a vending machine and a shart that Phillip Seymour Hoffman would be proud of. The best jokes Knoxville and Tremaine have written have either been done before or are irrelevant to the story.
Bad Grandpa however does have its moments. There were times when the audience were in uproar, as was I. This doesn't however mean it worked as a story. This should have remained as a sketch show and the comedy moments would have created a very funny show. Instead attempting to transfer to the big screen the creators have highlighted how this character can't carry a story and should have been left to shock unsuspecting citizens with his antics on the small screen only.
Another comedy film whose comedy moments are surplus to the story it is telling is Ted but with Ted the characters were likable and enjoyable. Tremaine and Knoxville on the other hand ask us to side with a man who cons two removal men to move his dead wife as she is too heavy for him. Irving is a difficult man to like or enjoy being in his company.
The gags can be fun and at time laughter poured through the cinema but through the camera work it was obvious which frames were to be set-ups and which were to stitch together the weak plot. If the camera was in the car the shot was crystal clear and the dialogue tried to show emotional change in the characters. If it was in a public place the image was grainy and involved a ridiculous situation that somebody transporting a family member across the country would never get themselves into.
Jackass is a fantastic creation. It isn't everyone's cup of tea but it pushed boundaries and people enjoyed to watch. Unfortunately that show appears to have run out of steam and this branch off movie isn't good enough to carry the Jackass name. It may carry the names of the director and one of its stars but the shocking scenarios do not live up to what they have once achieved.
A few fart gags aside this drops like wind in an elevator. The weak story feels an afterthought in order to stitch together pre-planned jokes and some of the scenarios we have all seen before, especially the climax which is completely ripped off from Little Miss Sunshine, only in Little Miss Sunshine it had meaning. What we are left with here is an excuse for Knoxville to don an old suit and swing his balls to and fro. Made for TV perhaps but films like this shouldn't grace the big screen.