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'ACTION POINT': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A 'JACKASS' comedy film starring Johnny Knoxville and Chris Pontius. The movie features the usual stunts and pranks, all connected by a story based on the notorious New Jersey theme park 'Action Park'. It was directed by Tim Kirkby, and it was written by Knoxville, John Altschuler, Dave Krinsky, Derek Freda and Mike Judge. The film is a bomb at the Box Office, and it's gotten mostly negative reviews from critics too. I found it to be mostly a bore as well.

Through flashbacks told to his grandson, D.C. (Knoxville) explains how he once owned a successful New Jersey them park, called Action Park. The park was famous for having dangerous rides, ran by inexperienced delinquent teenagers. D.C. and his crew did everything they could to keep the park running, even when it faced stiff competition from a giant evil corporation theme park. In the process D.C. also bonded with his estranged teenage daughter Boogie (Eleanor Worthington-Cox).

I like Knoxville, Pontius and the other 'JACKASS' movies, but this film just isn't funny. I do appreciate it's attempt to recreate the 80's style youth theme park movies of yesteryear though, and in that way it is nostalgic. That's the only thing the film really has going for it though. Other than that it's just a bore, sadly. The other person in the theater I saw it at even walked out half way before the movie was over!

Realistically the film wasn't very good but I didnt really expect much but it was just really good to see Knoxville's and pontius' faces again because I'm a huge jackass fan, RIP Ryan Dunn

When I saw that there was a movie called "Action Point" that was loosely based on Action Park I felt obligated to see it. For those not from New Jersey, Action Park was a Vernon, NJ theme park notorious for unsafe rides and intoxicated customers and staff. "Action Point" was mediocre and predictable. But some movies are about the journey, not the destination. If you want to see it go to the theater ASAP because it is not doing well at the box office. It will probably be available on DVD by the end of next week.

They drank a lot of Schlitz beer in the movie. It was obviously a product placement. I don't recall Schlitz being that popular in New Jersey in the '80s. But that was before I drank ... legally. I can't remember the last time I saw Schlitz in a liquor store, but have not purchased beer in a long time. I do remember the Schlitz Rocks America advertising campaign. They sponsored The Who's first farewell tour.

I went to Action Park at least a few times as a child. I wish I would have gone as an adult. I did not realize how historically significant it was. I think I felt fortunate to escape unscathed and didn't want to push my luck. The first time I rode the Alpine Slide I saw a guy who flew off the slide and was lying face down on the grass. The sufficiently scared me to be very careful. There really were many casualties at Action Park. I think most of the fatalities occurred on the water based attractions.

There are some great Action Park stories. And many of them are true. I heard they purchased new ambulances for the town of Vernon. A lot of people blamed the rowdiness of patrons on the fact that many were New Yorkers. One of my favorite stories was when "MTV's Headbanger's Ball" taped an episode there featuring the band Alice In Chains. The band members did not have to wait to go on the rides. And somebody screamed at guitar player Jerry Cantrell, "Hey burnout! Get back in line!"

Maybe I should go into more detail about the movie. It is an R rated comedy. Maybe that is why it struggled at the box office. A lot of the jokes were people falling and/or getting hurt. That isn't very funny ... well ... sometimes it's funny. I like the tee shirts that say "it's funny until someone gets hurt. Then it's hilarious". There should have been a disclaimer at the end of the movie that said "no humans were harmed in the making of this film". Does anyone care about humans getting hurt?

Most of the movie was Johnny Knoxville's character, D.C., telling stories about his crazy theme park to his young granddaughter. He referred to his motley crew of employees as "shitbirds". Maybe those characters could have been more developed.

Maybe the movie could have been based more closely on the real Action Park. The movie took place in California and was filmed in South Africa. I have no idea why. Vernon, NJ was rural. Some people do not even know that there are rural parts of New Jersey. I am from the Exit 153 area so that makes me a city boy. When I was a little kid my mother's best friend and her family moved up to Sussex County. We went up to visit many times. I had so much fun up there I can barely remember most of it. They moved to the country to get away from it all. And their kids found it all.

Action Park was 50 miles west of Manhattan and considered the New York area. They showed commercials on New York TV stations and attracted many patrons from there. A lot of people blamed many of the problems on the New Yorkers. Many of the drowning casualties were New Yorkers who couldn't swim and/or drank too much. Some of the New Yorkers did not speak English and few if any employees were bilingual. New York is definitely part of the Action Park story.

The corporate rival theme park was 7 Parks. I assume that was supposed to be like Six Flags. The nearest Six Flags to Action Park was 90 miles away in Jackson, NJ. There were definitely competition, but not that close.

Action Park did provide entertainment and it heard it was usually piss poor. That could have been a very funny part of the movie.

The movie reminded me of some of the comedies I watched growing up that pitted slobs versus snobs like "Animal House", "Caddyshack", etc..

I am trying to remember what beers were popular in New Jersey back in the '80s. I didn't drink. ;) I think my friends liked Old Milwaukee and Busch. Michelob was considered the good stuff.

I feel like Johnny Knoxville has lost a step. I don't know how true that is, because thinking about how much I loved Bad Grandpa contradicts that, but he looks old in this (not just because he is old but I'm sure years of stunt work will do that for you), he looks worn out old.

In what looks like a homage to Action Park, Knoxville plays a park owner literally keeping the rides together using duck tape when a rival park plans to put him out of the biz, so he ups his game by turning down the safety measurements, which allows Knoxville to do what he does best.

I think this movie could have used the support of the entire Jackass crew and not just Chris Pontus, although Pontus totally proves if you are going to do this with only one member, he's got to be that member. Absolutely Hilarious

Realistically, if you are a fan of Knoxville and Jackass you'll love this picture, but I do feel they could have used more slap stick stunts and less story.

Johnny Knoxville is kinda getting old for this ,,, i mean i like that the movies are much more evolved than what it was back in the day "Jackass" but still i think it is not good enough .

There were some stunts that looked real ,, which is Meh,, don't really care if i come to it .. but it is a movie after all,, so talking about the plot it looked mediocre.

Don't wanna say it's recommended , but it is not not recommended either ..