Johnny Knoxville, most famous for his part in the television series and movies of “Jackass,” is back in theatres, staring in the new movie “Bad Grandpa.” This time he is taking on a role that we have seen him in before from the MTV series and the Jackass movies: Irving Zisman.
Dressed up as the 86 year-old Zisman, Knoxville travels with his eight year old grandson Billy across country in order to reunite the boy with his father. The authentic make up job done on Knoxville brings to life what looks like an actual elderly man that could fool just about anyone on the street solely based on his appearance. The old liver spots, receding hair line and white mustache are a work of art.
The comedic relief that Knoxville was known for with this role of the grandpa in past shows and movies did not disappoint, or did it? During their traveling, Knoxville and Billy crash a wedding, a funeral, a strip joint, and a little girl beauty contest. As usual the most inappropriate and foul things spurt out of his mouth on a consistent basis. Occasionally Knoxville propositions raunchy humor towards woman or even has Billy do his dirty work. At one point he stopped a car wash because his air bag went off in his face.
This is a new movie, but the idea is not. The Zisman character was already old news from “Jackass.” It was a disappointment to see that the character has not changed but is still the same old man from the other works. Frankly, he appears to be a convincing old man until he speaks. Knoxville does not sound like an 86 year old. This leads to the downfall of the pranks. The element of shock was not always there with the jokes. These ordinary everyday people that he was playing jokes on did not always react the way that you would think. Obviously their reactions are genuine but at times seemed not phased or even amused by the old man, which destroyed some of the humor.
What made this character so special in the past with the MTV series and movies was the small role that it had within the whole movie. Now this whole movie is consistently hammered with jokes from the same character that seem to give you the same thing over and over again when it comes to the humor and the element of surprise. “Bad Grandpa” does have parts that left viewers laughing out loud hysterically. A farting contest in a booth at a diner and Billy entering a little girl beauty contest gave the audience quite a laugh. The humor was just too repetitive and did not always create that laugh out loud moment. “It was decent at best, I thought it could have been better” a young gentleman had to say after walking out of the building. The movie gets two and a half stars out of four.
Sean Breen is a fourth-year student majoring in English and minoring in journalism. He can be reached at SB718728@wcupa.edu
Sun. Apr 28th, 2024
