What can someone expect when they sit down to watch a “Jackass” movie starring Johnny Knoxville and a bold little kid? After watching some “Jackass” episodes, there can’t be that high of a bar.
But surprisingly, “Bad Grandpa” hits the mark in its shameless version of “What Would You Do?” type situations involving folks from Nebraska all the way to Raleigh. There are lots of borderline-offensive jokes, horrified expressions and rated-R moments that deliver laughs throughout the entire movie.
The film starts out with grandpa Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) finding out his wife has just died.
At the funeral, his drug-addicted daughter informs him in front of a room of strangers that she has violated her probation and has to go back to jail. Zisman is left with the task of taking his grandson Billy to his biological good-for-nothing father, who lives halfway across the country in Raleigh.
Thus begins the comical roadtrip of Grandpa and Billy, along with the deceased grandma who has hitched a ride in the trunk until she can be buried.
The Jackass crew is taking a gamble on Americans not being able to recognize landmarks in North Carolina. In actuality, the trip starts in Nebraska and proceeds to Raleigh, to Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen in Chapel Hill (for the shopping cart scene), then to St. Louis and on through Tennessee.
Grandpa and Billly pass Charlotte’s skyline but right after somehow pass a “Welcome to North Carolina” sign. The progression eventually makes sense when the two make it to Raleigh and then leave for Charlotte (which apparently has mountains) for a shocking beauty pageant.
The reactions of the unsuspecting public are not so shocking. But what the public is willing to do is a little concerning. In general people try to be a little more understanding when awkward situations involve an elderly man and his young grandson.
But some people are just a little too understanding, which makes for some crazy and often illegal activity. This movie could double as an eye-opening documentary for child welfare advocates everywhere.
Apparently a little boy can walk around a city talking about his jailbird mother and his absent grandpa, who is probably hung over in a strip club, and no one feels the need to call the cops.
“Bad Grandpa” does what it’s supposed to do. Not striving for any sort of critical acclaim, the film just entertains and scores a good bit of laughs while doing it.
Like much of the other material in the “Jackass” canon, the movie definitely isn’t for easily offended people or even worth a trip to the theatre, but it is worth watching when a copy or the opportunity falls into your lap.
— Amanda Hayes
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
