Jackass: The Movie

Jackass: The Movie (2002) is the cinema version of the MTV series. There is no structure and no story, just one dangerous or disgusting stunt after another. The crew turn hurting themselves into a form of performance and the camera makes none of it look good. The interesting part is how it was made. Small budget, digital cameras, real injuries, and almost no trickery in the edit. The risks are genuine and several members of the crew have carried serious damage from them over the years. The main change in moving from television to cinema was the loosening of what was allowed. Material that could not be broadcast is in the film, and it was rated R in the United States. Jeff Tremaine directed. Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O and the rest play themselves. Spike Jonze is among the producers. The commercial result turned it into a franchise: it made many times its budget and was followed by two sequels, a fourth film and a string of spin offs. It runs 85 minutes. Good for: physical comedy, performance without limits, and viewers of the series. Less good for: there is no narrative at all and much of it is uncomfortable to watch. Some sequences are nauseating. Imitating any of it is genuinely dangerous, which is exactly why the film carries its warnings.