Action Point

There is a certain stipulation that comes with any Jackass movie. You're not sitting down for an Oscar caliber movie. You're not expecting great film. Rather, you're coming to see a bunch of dumb guys getting hit in the nuts, falling into cacti, and wrestling with dangerous animals. The real life stunts, and the sh*t these guys put themselves through for a laugh, is why you go, and it is endlessly entertaining. With Action Point, star Johnny Knoxville is going in a different direction. Instead of the film just being a bunch of sketches and stunts edited together, there is an actual story going along with it. It's a real movie, with a narrative and characters and everything, but all the stunts are done for real in true Jackass form. The blend is an interesting idea, and it's one that made me actually kind of excited for this movie. Bad Grandpa had some narrative to it, and it actually worked out pretty well. But I was interested in seeing how it would work when they went completely in on it. And it works out quite well, actually. Action Point isn't a great movie, but it's entertaining as hell. I had an excellent time in the theater, cracking up laughing with all my friends, enjoying this movie. Is it stupid? Yes, absolutely. But if you like the style of humor that the Jackass movies present, then you're going to enjoy Action Point. The movie centers around D.C. (Knoxville) who, in his elder years, recounts to his granddaughter his glory days of operating a sketchy amusement park called Action Point.

Went into this movie with VERY low expectations, but I actually enjoyed it. Not very good, but it was still a very fun, lighthearted, and funny movie.

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.

In the "golden era" of television, there was a variety of shows that served to entertain, teach, and all out shock the audience. While sitcoms, cartoons, and the soap operas reigned supreme, there were a few shows out there trying to make their mark. One of these was Jackass, a show that was all about taking the wildest, stupidest dares and making them a reality. Despite all the self-harm, destruction, and lack of logic, this show thrived and led to Knoxville producing a number of movies to support his endeavors. After some hiatus, the master of stunts and ridiculousness is back again in the form of another of a stunt palooza. Robbie K, here to provide insight into the latest silver screen, as we review:

Movie: Action Point

Director: Tim Kirkby Writers: John Altschuler (screenplay by), Dave Krinsky (screenplay by) Stars: Johnny Knoxville, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Susan Yeagley

LIKES:

Cute Motives at times: Among the ridiculous stunts, alcoholism, and dirty humor, there lies a soft, chewy center of family bonding and love. Action Point helps display the hardships of parenting, and in some cases grandparenting, which will speak to many and perhaps demonstrate the importance of balance and understanding. It's a small lesson embedded in the seas of ridiculous stunts, but decently presented to say the least.

Stunts: You can say what you want about how illogical it is to harm one's self for a laugh, but I give credit to Knoxville for still doing his own stunts. Despite being almost 50, he took point in all the injuring scenes and sequences, some of which could easily break a hip, or a neck. His youthful gang is starting to inherit the mantle, but the directors still has a few tricks up his sleeve to bring a laugh.

Fast Pace/Short Run Time: Editing is always impressive to me and Knoxville achieves his desired goal in a short amount of time. Action Point has cut out a lot of fluff, bringing pertinent shots, plot points, and balance between past and present while maximizing the disaster at hand. While you might feel gipped out of a movie for not being at least 90 minutes long, to have the movie feel complete in the short time gets mad props from me, which doesn't happen that often.

The Bear: I'm not talking the mascot, but the actual animal that is in the movie. Knoxville's crew got a bear involved in the movie, and his scenes are humorous to me, primarily when they start harnessing its unique skills for their own promotions. Nevertheless, have a laugh at the impressive performance from a non-English speaking cast member.

DISLIKES:

Little Story: I'm a story guy and no surprise, the movie has little to no story outside a paper-thin plot to ground the stunts to. While this is to be expected in this type of movie, as a reviewer I have to look at all components for my review and Knoxville's team fails on this level for me. Yes, there is some slight character development in the leads, but not much to warrant giving two thumbs up.

Stale Stupidity: Knoxville may get kudos for tackling his self-harm adventure head first, but subjecting himself to the illogical torture gets old after a while. The constant slapstick crashes, pranks, and running into stuff purposefully gets old after a while. Outside of a few scenes, including the bear parts, the movies repetitive comedic focus lost its touch very quickly, resulting in a rather bland attempt at laughs. Most of the audience in my group seemed to have the same reaction as well, so don't expect masterpiece here.

Over the Line: It wouldn't be Knoxville without crossing the line, but there were some major moments that I certainly did not enjoy. Seeing dogs get it on, rather heated sex scene, animal cruelty, and continuous abuse of alcohol are not the things that make a great movie for me. While small in number, the team maximized these moments and not in a classy way at all.

THE VERDICT:

Action Point doesn't sell you short on what the trailers promised. It's a ridiculous ride of Knoxville's usual repertoire of skits with a little cuteness/sincerity thrown in to sweeten the deal. While I understand this is the point of all his works though, the movie doesn't have enough gusto, uniqueness, or creativity to warrant a theater visit. Action Point would have served better as an extended TV special or Netflix series. In addition, it may not turn out as funny as you might expect, mostly because of either the inappropriate moments or the stale comedic slapstick (much of which was ruined by the trailers). Overall, I suggest skipping this one and trying something else in the silver screen.

My scores:

Comedy: 5.5 Movie Overall: 4.0

I've never been a fan of Jackass-hitting people in the nuts and stunts like that I don't really see the humor in. But I love theme parks, and wipeouts on rides sounded appealing to me. The story doesn't matter, but there is some fun and a few laughs here at the chaotic Action Point. I would have totally gone there in the 80's!