Bad Grandpa.5

Behind-the-scenes feature of the 2013 comedy JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA that includes over 40 minutes of additional outtakes and interviews. Catherine Keener and Spike Jonze's portrayals as elderly women add a layer to the story and help shape Knoxville's character's background a little more—and despite these subplots being removed from the final cut for lack of contribution to the story, they are just as funny as the shenanigans left in. Not only will fans of the movie enjoy, but also those fond of JACKASS, as .5 unravels a lot like an episode— which couldn't be anything but intentional.

*** (out of four)

Bad Grandpa .5 is not really a movie with it's own plot but a movie on how they made their movie Bad Grandpa featuring all kinds of outtakes. Bad Grandpa is not really old but created using all expensive professional makeup. They go on to explain that there was a small budget and spent most of it on the makeup to make believable old characters and just went out all day dressed as old people pranking people in everyday situations - golf games, park benches, funeral homes, etc (in candid camera function) to get their takes for the movie of Bad Grandpa. They show lots of the outtakes; most of them hysterical, however a few didn't work so well but that is the whole process of movie making. Anyone interested in making movies, production, acting, professional makeup, hidden microphones, etc will definitely get a lot of education from watching this as well. Hysterical but be prepared for crudeness.

(As Knoxville as Irving realizes how many church ladies are there as he leaves following a chase from black male strippers): "...Baptists!"

Firstly, as an independent filmmaker myself, I can tell you the whole "Is the window up or the window down" confusion for Irving in the car happens so so so very much when setting up scenes and shots. I know there's funnier things in this .5 doc/reel of additional scenes, but that made me laugh the most (especially when Knoxville just looks at the camera like WTF).

There is so much here that is totally fascinating about the process of this movie (which is not the best of the Jackass movies but is far from anything being so lesser as it's reputation kind of is now), from the technical process of how and where (and specifically not where) to put the cameras and how long operators have with them in a day (do the ladies get a bottle only to pee, too?); to Gloria, aka Spike, and the director's big idea to have a sex scene that was perhaps slightly ill-fated, but God bless Jonze for going for this Bigger than Life raucous old lady (he's an underrated actor in general and that diner scene is super); to how Knoxville just delighted in keeping bits going for as long as he could and if only longer, like the jerk with the penguin outside the restaurant (which wasn't even his place, albeit he kept pitching his own) It's maybe the most interesting BTS of all the .5's simply on the ground of so many of the scenes getting necessary context.

And to finally answer my own pondering from the movie proper.... ohh, so that's who Catherine Keener played! Holy mackerel. And she is sensational in that Funeral Pre-Planning scene and very good in the casino, in particular with the cat food(!) She managed to be a true secret MVP for the production, even if she wound up on the proverbial cutting room floor for the theatrical cut. I especially love the last funeral director and how she points out the "sexual depravation" and send that email. Well, ::chefs kiss:: and props to Spike Jonze for bringing her in.

It's the first time I see Bad Grandpa .5, and it was a bit of a disappointment. This "movie" is nowhere near as good as the Bad Grandpa movie. Ths is actually not even a Bad Grandpa or Jackass movie. We get to see a few clips over the course of 90 minutes where they talk about why these clips didn't work particularly well in the Bad Grandpa movie. This is basically deleted scenes from Bad Grandpa, and shouldn't be a movie by itself. It should be a DVD featurette in Bad Grandpa.

In Jackass 2.5 there were many interviews and commentary with some deleted scenes. Jackass 3.5 balanced it better where we got to see more and funny footage that didn't make it into Jackass 3D. Bad Grandpa .5 was almost just interviews and commentary throughout the entire movie about stuff they did in Bad Grandpa. There are some new clips though, but it was not that funny. It's of course interesting to see behind the scenes, but I thought this would be more like Jackass 3.5, so I was a bit disappointed.

Watch it if you're a big fan, but don't expect it to be "the next Jackass movie" because it's not. I don't think I will watch this again.

An unrated version of Bad Grandpa which includes over 40 minutes of additional outtakes and interviews.

If people are looking for another "Bad Grandpa" film, this is not it. Also, very few of the pranks shown here could be said to be on the level of or better than anything shown in the film. Instead, this is essentially a feature-length behind the scenes look.

Generally, "making of" segments are not all that interesting to anyone beyond big fans of a film or film geeks who like to see how the sausage is made. This is an exception in a good way. When you see the finished product, you likely have no idea how many hours of footage are needed to make a 90-minute film. With pranks that get cut or need several attempts, this sort of film (more than any other) requires excessive work that will never get recognized.

This film also showcases the makeup and we see why the film was nominated for an Oscar (and why it should have won). Perhaps most interesting is getting to see Spike Jonze on a personal level. This is the genius behind "Being John Malkovich", "Adaptation" and "Her"... yet he still pulls pranks and skateboards with the Knoxville crew rather than schmooze with A-listers. Such an interesting character.