Bad Grandpa

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Bad Grandpa
Starring Johnny Knoxville, Jackson Nicoll, Georgina Cates, Spike Jonze
Directed by Jeff Tremaine


86 year old Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) is taking his eight year old grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll) on a cross country trip to hand him off to Billy's father, as his mother was just sentenced to jail.  Along the way, the two cause mischief and mayhem in small and big towns alike, resulting in hilarious consequences to those unsuspecting viewers who don't know they're being secretly videotaped.

Johnny Knoxville, best known for his "Jackass" television and movie series, delivers the first film that actually features a somewhat coherent storyline with "Bad Grandpa," as he changes from a middle-aged man to an ornery old man and pulls pranks on unsuspecting victims.  The laughs abound in droves as not just me, but everyone in the theater, found themselves almost rolling in the aisles from laughing too hard. 

There's three things that make this film totally drop dead funny:
1) Knoxville's performance as the old man.  He's not afraid to make a total fool of himself (one of the best sequences was when he went out in search of nightly entertainment and got more than he bargained for), and he really enjoys what he's doing to the people around him.
2) Nicoll's performance.  At such a young age to be able to keep a straight face is something commendable, as he does some of the silliest antics (including participating in a girls' beauty pageant), he acts with a surprising sense of responsibility in an otherwise comedic movie.
3) The people.  The people that Knoxville pranks have some of the best reactions I've ever seen, especially one lady at a Bingo parlor who's very surprised that Irving brought along a martini maker, and the choir at the funeral home.  I have no idea how Knoxville didn't get beat up by some of the people, and it shows in the ending how they told the participants they were just "punked," and seeing their reactions is hilarious.

Is it the most low-brow type of humor?  Yes.  But it doesn't try to be anything else, and that's what makes the film a classic comedic gem.

My Rating: A

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