JACKASS PRESENTS BAD GRANDPA

year: 2013 cast: Johnny Knoxville, Jackson Nicoll, Lisa Maley, Catherine Keener, Spile Jonze rating: ***

Resembling Art Carney after a crash diet, Johnny Knoxville plays Irving Zisman, a crabby, accidental-prone coot with permanent beer goggles who gets reluctantly stuck with his tubby grandson... The plot, like any road movie, is simple enough: Irving drives young Billy to live with his father, a drug dealer looking forward to a hopeful $600 a month government child support... But when Jackass is concerned, does a plot really matter?

Well it does and it doesn’t… Expository scenes where Irving and Billy are alone, not shocking the normal people (supposedly being) filmed in secret, are somewhat awkward… and yet the characters are cushy and likable... Billy, played by Jackson Nicoll, is perfectly cast. He looks like the kind of kid you’d never imagine starring in a movie… The last child left at an orphanage. In fact his dull, droopy-eyed, monotone personality serves as a constant punchline: asking strangers blunt questions, sharing secrets about his drug addict mother and helping Grandpa with con games.

The big trailer-spoiled stunts, from Irving crashing a mini-helicopter ride through a store window to being practically mangled in a mechanical bed, seem very contrived and aren’t that funny… Meanwhile the finale, taking place in a children's beauty contest, is straight out of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE… Yet what’s really humorous is Knoxville’s dead-on performance as an old guy who sees every woman as drop-dead gorgeous. And the subtle cantankerous lines that, even in this completely exaggerated role, aren’t far from how certain old men (you may even be related to one) behave: using their advanced age to get away with just about anything – a perfectly suited Jackass scheme that results in an engaging, and surprisingly laidback, experience.

Sure it's a bit overly BORAT at times, but you should have fun with it...