Bad Grandpa

I laughed my ass off! Amazing character transformation. Crude content! It is "R" rated!!

Despite all its low brow humor and childish gags Bad Grandpa is by far one of the funniest and seriously ingenious comedies of the year and when watched with the right mindset will be a thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes at the movies.

Played by a worryingly good Johnny Knoxville Irving Zisman is the titular bad grandpa, a man set upon every women he sees and a man that finds himself in many a hilarious situation. Whether Irving is at a bingo center, diner or postal office Johnny Knoxville inhabits him wholly and completely that one forgets we are watching a pretend old man. It must be said also that some of the film's most quiet and funny moments come from Knoxville merely waltzing about town in full old man get up, waving and traipsing about his business as passer byes are none the wiser. Knoxville's strong inhabitation of Irving however would have been wasted if his grandson weren't such a mischievous delight as well.

As played by child actor Jackson Nicholl Irving's grandson Billy is the perfect foil for the antics the film sets up and Nicholl displays a rare ability for a child to think on a whim and more than once he will have you laughing hysterically with his verbal comebacks or physical comedy (A highlight being the trailer centerpiece and films ace up the sleeve beauty pageant routine). It's good to see Jackass stalwart and co-creator Jeff Tremaine handle both the situations and actors so well and one senses that this creation will set forward more projects under the similar vein of real life candid cameras mixed with a anchoring plot line.

Obviously not for everyone and more likely to offended than not Bad Grandpa is still a must see for all comedy fans and even if Jackass is not your usual cup of lime juice Bad Grandpa offers up a welcome deviation from the usual Jackass presentations and a showpiece for just how funny Knoxville is when given the right material.

4 knocked over penguins out of 5

While not being a longtime fan of this group, I had been able to watch some of the craziest antics Jackass can come up with in their second motion picture attempt. While their previous movies were compiled by a series of stunts, Bad Grandpa follows a background narrative that consists of basically a disgruntled grandpa trying to get his grandson to his estranged dad. What follows is a ride filled with shocking laugh out schemes that present the audience with an outrageous senior citizen that will stop at nothing to show his grandchild how much of an inappropriate person he can be. This is classic Jackass style and while containing some moments that I didn't particularly enjoy, most of them were incredibly funny and could only have come from the twisted minds of these gentlemen. Another highlight of the movie is the incredible make- up process that makes Johnny Knoxville completely unrecognizable to the known eye. Even "Her" director-writer Spike Jonze is totally undetectable as the deceased wive of our bad grandpa. In conclusion a great comedy for the fans and a true contender for the academy award for best make-up

Rating 7/10

In a world overrun by forgettable, banal reality television, Jackass has distinguished itself as a franchise with unexpected staying power. Who would have thought that a television show about pulling pranks on unsuspecting members of the public would go on to dominate the silver screen as well? That's precisely what Johnny Knoxville and his compatriots have done, however. Bad Grandpa marks the Jackass crew's fourth foray into the realm of feature films. The movie is itself more ambitious than its predecessors, betting that one character - an apparently doddering 86-year-old man - can carry an actual plot and an enormous arsenal of pranks. Surprisingly, it's a gamble that pays off: Bad Grandpa is frequently as funny as it is in bad taste.

The ostensible plot of it all goes something like this: Irving Zisman (Knoxville) is saddled with his grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll) when his flaky daughter is sent to prison and his wife Ellie (Catherine Keener - yes, really!) passes away. Resolving to palm his grandson off to his ne'er-do-well son-in-law, Irving embarks on a road trip across America - an adventure that takes them from strip club to diner, from funeral to beauty pageant, and everything in between. Along the way, they meet people from all walks of life: most of them unsuspecting, several of them kind, all of them pretty good sports.

Much of the thrill of watching Bad Grandpa comes from knowing that it is a hidden-camera comedy - one that draws its greatest laughs and amusement from people who have no clue that Irving isn't actually a senior citizen. Many of the pranks border on the tasteless (Irving gets a crucial body part caught in a vending machine, grandpa and grandson engage in a flatulence contest in a diner with disastrous results), but the horrified looks on the faces of innocent passers-by make it all work. There are even some moments of inspired comic genius: chiefly, the set-pieces that take place in a strip club and at a beauty pageant. (To spoil you any further, dear reader, would be criminal.)

It takes a pair of seasoned performers not to crack and give the game away. Knoxville, of course, has years of experience and bodily injury under his belt, and he is astonishingly good at playing a bawdy old man with very few social (and some might say moral) filters. The great surprise is Nicoll, a child with the most perfectly deadpan of faces - he's hilariously convincing whether he's asking a complete stranger to adopt him or re-enacting a scenario reminiscent of Abigail Breslin's wildly inappropriate grind-bump dance in Little Miss Sunshine.

This is - evidently - very far from great cinema, even though director Jeff Tremaine does actually manage to sneak a little more sentiment and plot into the film than you might expect. But great cinema does not always equate into a fun, brainless night out at the cinema - which Bad Grandpa, if you set your expectations as low as they can go, will almost indubitably provide you.

Bad Grandpa is a good movie with a pretty good storyline and really good performances from those who are acting.Most of the movie is hidden camera as Johnny Knoxville playing an old man is communicating with real people who have no idea they are being filmed for a movie,this works out really well and most of the scenes are full of cringe and it is impossible not to laugh.Johnny Knoxville does a very good job as Irving Zisman,he really got interested in this character and it wasn't until I saw a sign that said Knoxville towards the end of the movie that I had completely forgotten it was Knoxville,he puts on a voice very similar to Stan Lee's and play's a really convincing and strange old man from start to finish.The grandson Jackson Nicoll does a very good job as well,I found his comic timing very impressive for a boy his age.I am not a fan of Jackass but I really enjoyed this movie,though I think Jackass fans will enjoy it,it's different enough for people outside the Jackass audience to enjoy,because the humour isn't just watching people get hurt and there is also a storyline.I would recommend Bad Grandpa to anyone who enjoys hidden camera comedies and just comedy in general.

When his daughter is sent to jail,Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) takes his grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll) on a road trip across the country to take him to his irresponsible father.They get up to some crazy antics around complete strangers along the way.

Best Performance: Johnny Knoxville Worst Performance: Georgina Cates