Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jeff Tremaine
Produced by
Screenplay by
  • Jeff Tremaine
  • Johnny Knoxville
  • Spike Jonze
Story by
  • Fax Bahr
  • Spike Jonze
  • Johnny Knoxville
  • Adam Small
  • Jeff Tremaine
Starring Johnny Knoxville
Jackson Nicoll
Music by Sam Spiegel
Koool G Murder
Cinematography Lance Bangs
Dimitry Elyashkevich
Edited by Seth Casriel
Matt Kosinski
Matthew Probst
Production
company
MTV Films
Dickhouse Productions
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
  • October 25, 2013
Running time
 92 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $15 million[2]
Box office $151,826,547[2]

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa is a 2013 American hidden camera comedy film directed by Jeff Tremaine and written by Tremaine, Spike Jonze and Johnny Knoxville. It is the fourth installment in the Jackass film series.[3] The film stars Johnny Knoxville and Jackson Nicoll.[4] It was produced by MTV Films and Dickhouse Productions and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was released on October 25, 2013.[5] Bad Grandpa has a loose plot that connects the stunts and pranks together (in a manner reminiscent of Borat),[6][7][8] as opposed to the three original Jackass films which had no plot.

The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 86th Academy Awards, becoming the first installment in the Jackass film series to be nominated for an Oscar.[9]

Plot

Billy is sitting in the waiting room of a law office. His mom comes out to grab him and tell him they're going to see his grandpa. Irving Zisman is sitting in the waiting room of a hospital, checking out a magazine and looking at the sexual images. A nurse comes in to tell Irving that his wife has died. After a brief moment of silence, Irving starts laughing, overjoyed that his wife is dead. Irving leaves the hospital to get himself off, but unfortunately for him, the massage parlor and strip club are closed. Desperate, he sticks his penis in the slot of a vending machine. That's when he gets himself stuck and starts asking onlookers for help.

Irving attends his wife Ellie's funeral with a group of strangers. As he starts giving a speech, Billy and his mom Kimmie barge in and Kimmie pulls Irving out to talk to him. She says she's going back to jail for violating her parole, and she asks Irving to make sure Billy stays with his father. Irving reluctantly agrees and they re-enter the church. Kimmie starts to steal a pearl necklace from Ellie's casket, but Irving goes to stop her. Their struggle ends up pushing Irving into the casket, spilling Ellie's corpse onto the floor.

Irving takes Billy to meet with a counselor while they contact Billy's dad. Chuck turns out to be a deadbeat who refuses to take Billy in as he cannot afford to. When his girlfriend comes in to remind him that he can get child support for Billy, he instructs Irving to take Billy down to Raleigh, North Carolina to drop him off with him by Sunday. Irving starts selling Ellie's belongings, and tries to sell her bed to a potential customer. Later, Irving calls a couple of unwitting guys to come help take the bed out, though he really asks them to help him and Billy carry Ellie's body to the trunk of his car, since he felt that she needs to be taken south to be buried properly.

Irving and Billy hit the road, and Billy says he's hungry, so Irving pulls over to a nearby market where a woman is selling food. He tries to hit on her while Billy goes on a ride outside the shop. He tells Irving that it's not working, forcing Irving to test it out. He ends up getting shot through the window as the ride springs off its base. Frustrated, Irving tries to ship Billy off to North Carolina in a box. He takes him to the post office, but because Billy keeps moving and speaking, the two women in the place open it and are shocked to find him in there. Before he can get in anymore trouble, he says he'll just take Billy back on the road. Irving leaves Billy in the car as he goes to a rec center to play Bingo. Meanwhile, Billy leaves the car to walk around and stop an older gentlemen to get him to tie his shoe.

The two stop in a supermarket when Billy gets hungry again, Irving takes food from the store and makes himself and Billy sandwiches, which is seen by the employees. A woman comes out to chastise Irving for eating without paying. The two pull into a motel for the day. They pull Ellie's corpse out of the trunk since Irving thinks it would be disrespectful to leave it in the car. Irving then asks a man if he knows where a strip club is. The man points him out to one and he leaves Billy in the room. Irving goes to a club featuring male performers, and tells one of the dancers that he plans on waiting until the women are so aroused by the dancers for him to swoop in and make his move. When the men start to dance, Irving jumps on the dance floor and pulls down his pants. At the same time, Billy leaves the motel room to find Irving. He goes to another strip club and then to an adult book store. Irving eventually comes back home before they have to hit the road again.

As they near North Carolina, Irving tries to use Billy to find a woman to hook up with, but they all turn him down. They drive to a diner where Irving drives into a large penguin statue, arguing with one of the employees about fixing it. In the diner, Billy asks why he has to stay with his dad when he doesn't like him very much. Irving insists that he has to go with him. They leave and later play some basketball while Billy asks Irving if he can take him fishing. Billy gets hungry yet again and Irving takes him to a church where a wedding reception is taking place. During a group photo, Irving swipes a glass of champagne, causing the whole tower of glasses to collapse, and he ends up falling on top of the table, spilling the cake on the floor.

Irving drives Billy to a bar where they are meeting Chuck. Chuck is talking to a member of a biker organization called Guardians of Children, who help abused kids. Chuck explains that Billy will allow for him to get child support just as Irving and Billy walk in the door. Irving asks him to make sure that Billy is taken care of, though he rudely responds to Irving that he'll get the job done. Irving bids Billy farewell. As Irving leaves tearfully, one GOC member comes out to assure him that they'll keep their eyes on Billy. Irving drives away, but quickly starts to miss Billy. He turns the car around and drives back to the bar to get Billy back, just as Chuck is showing off his bad parenting by denying Billy any food. Irving calls Billy to him, but Chuck prepares to fight him. The GOC members pull the two away from each other and allow Irving to leave with Billy while they hold Chuck off and warn him there will be trouble if he acts threateningly.

To celebrate, Irving and Billy crash a beauty pageant after spotting a flyer for it on their road trip. Billy gets dressed up as a girl and charms most of the judges, even though one reigning child champion and her mother note the unusual event of a girl being there with a grandpa. Billy dresses up as a sailor girl to put on a show while. It appears cute until he rips off the outfit to reveal him wearing women's underwear and then put on a risque dance. His wig falls off and the two run out. Irving drives up to a bridge where he and Billy finally get rid of Ellie's body by throwing it into the river. The two then proceed to fish, fulfilling Billy's desires.

Cast

Jeff Tremaine, Johnny Knoxville, and Jackson Nicoll at a screening for the film

Production

In March 2012, Knoxville discussed the possibility of a fourth Jackass movie, saying "we're keeping our mind open" and "I've got 50–60 ideas on top of all the stuff we didn't get to shoot."[11] Then in June 2012, it was reported Paramount "registered several domains for a film that would be called Jackass 4: Bad Grandpa."[12] During Margera's September 18, 2012 interview on The Howard Stern Show about Jackass he said: "There's going to be a whole movie about Knoxville's grandpa character."[13] The film was officially announced on July 17, 2013, and was released on October 25, 2013.[14] Knoxville revealed he and director Jeff Tremaine had been approached on making a film featuring the Irving Zisman character, but held off as they did not feel a plot consisting of pranking the public would be able to carry an entire film.[15] Eventually, Tremaine and Knoxville came up with a story to structure the pranks around.[15]

Much of Bad Grandpa was filmed in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, as well as North Carolina.[16] The first scene shot featured Irving enraging golfers on a Columbus course, where he was working as a groundskeeper. "At that point all of my hesitancy just washed away," Knoxville said. "We got so much funny stuff that we knew we had something special."[15] The Irving Zisman makeup took three hours to apply to Knoxville.[15] Five hours were needed for scenes requiring Knoxville to remove his shirt.[15] Jackson Nicoll was cast as Billy, Irving Zisman's grandson. Knoxville cast Nicoll after working with him on the 2012 film Fun Size.[15] "Jackson would just follow me on the set and verbally assault me while hitting me in the zipper," Knoxville said. "I was just shaking my head thinking that this kid is a piece of work. He's unbelievable. I think he was sent from heaven."[15]

Release

Critical response

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa has received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 60% based on 105 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The site's consensus states: "Never quite as funny as it wants to be, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa still offers viewers the timeless pleasures of seeing an old man get his privates stuck in a vending machine."[17] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 54 based on 29 reviews.[18] The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 86th Academy Awards, but lost to the biographical drama Dallas Buyers Club.[9]

Ashley Clark of Time Out gave the film two out of five stars, saying "In Bad Grandpa, there's no shock value: the physical comedy is down to a minimum, replaced by a creaking humour almost as dated as Zisman himself."[19] Scott Foundas of Variety gave the film a positive review, saying "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa shows there's still comic life in this decade-old franchise - provided, of course, the sight of a senior citizen getting his penis caught in a vending machine is the kind of thing that brings a smile to your face."[20] Amy Nicholson of LA Weekly gave the film a C, saying "The joke is really on Knoxville, who, despite flinging himself through a glass wall and rigging up a fake poo-sprayer in his pants, gets fewer laughs than his boy sidekick."[21] Elizabeth Weitzman of New York Daily News gave the film a negative review, saying "Knoxville and the perfectly cast Nicoll have great chemistry throughout. But longtime "Jackass" director Jeff Tremaine consistently cuts away too quickly, undermining each joke in order to rush on to the next."[22] Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film two out of four stars, saying "Although we're allowed the perverse pleasure of watching Irving commit one inappropriate act after another, our sense of horror/delight dissipates after each one."[23]

Peter Keough of The Boston Globe gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Though at times it grows predictable and more inane than outrageous, Bad Grandpa gets more than its share of cheap laughs."[24] Colin Covert of the Star Tribune gave the film four out of four stars, saying "Bad Grandpa has the thrill of a dirty joke, brilliantly told. This film is emphatically not for everyone, but if it’s not for you, too bad."[25] Scott Bowles of USA Today gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa not only stands as the best installment (by bounds) of Johnny Knoxville's hidden-camera franchise; it's one of the sharpest comedies of the year."[26] Alonso Duralde of The Wrap gave the film a positive review, saying "When the three-act structure gets shoved to the side for fun and games, Bad Grandpa delivers some of the heartiest laughs I've had all year."[27] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B–, saying "You'll occasionally laugh out loud, but the heart of the movie is safe enough to chuckle at."[28] R. Kurt Osenlund of Slant Magazine gave the film a half a star out of four, saying "A choppy, feature-length progression of crude, predictable gags, Bad Grandpa plays like a variety show, and yet its main attraction is barely funny enough to warrant his own brief sketch."[29]

Sam Adams of Time Out New York gave the film two out of five stars, saying "Apart from a handful of physical stunts and the penultimate biker-bar setup, Knoxville never puts himself at risk, and the imbalance of power curdles the imperative to laugh at the rubes."[30] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "It's not really a movie. It's Johnny Knoxville and his Jackass crew faking out real people into believing he's 86-year-old Irving Zisman, an old fart bag traveling cross-country."[31] Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film two out of four stars, saying "Some of the pranks are masterfully executed; the beauty pageant and a disastrous funeral near the beginning stand out. But on the whole, Bad Grandpa can't locate a consistent groove."[32] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times gave the film three and a half stars out of five, saying "The film has a story complete with a beginning, middle and end. It has some acting and emotion. And most shocking of all - it has empathy."[33] Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times gave the film three and a half stars out of five, saying "It's hard to score big laughs with hidden-camera material these days because there has been so much of it since the "Jackass" TV show, but Mr. Knoxville and his young sidekick still land a few jaw-droppers."[34]

Amy Nicholson of The Village Voice gave the film a negative review, saying "By Jackass standards, Bad Grandpa is benign—it’s neither as fun nor as thrilling as watching Knoxville play tetherball with a beehive."[35] Linda Barnard of the Toronto Star gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying "Fans of the MTV series and related flicks will be quite entertained by this latest extrusion from the Jackass factory. But like the lime-green bingo dabber contents Irving drinks down to the horror of his seatmates, it’s an acquired taste."[36] Kyle Ryan of The A.V. Club gave the film a B–, saying "No one will ever mistake the Jackass franchise for good cinema, but it never aspired to that. It was always about allowing the gleeful anarchy of the TV series to escape the constraints of television — to be more outrageous, gross, and profane than the FCC would ever allow."[37] Steve Rose of The Guardian gave the film three out of five stars, saying "Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat set the bar very high for this type of narrative-driven prankery, and in comparison, Bad Grandpa comes across as disjointed and aimless."[38]

Box office

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa grossed $102,003,019 in North America, and $48,900,000 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $150,903,019.[2] In North America, the film opened to #1 in its first weekend, with $32,055,177.[39] In its second weekend, the film dropped to number two, grossing an additional $20,010,303.[40] In its third weekend, the film stayed at number two, grossing $11,326,977.[41] In its fourth weekend, the film dropped to number five, grossing $7,421,536.[42]

Home media

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 28, 2014.[43] An unrated version of the film, titled Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5 which includes over 40 minutes of additional outtakes and interviews, premiered June 15, 2014 on MTV,[44] and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 8, 2014.[45]

References

  1. ↑ "JACKASS PRESENTS BAD GRANDPA (15)". Paramount Pictures. British Board of Film Classification. October 8, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013)". Box Office Mojo. 2013-10-01. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  3. ↑ "JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA Images and Details. BAD GRANDPA Stars Johnny Knoxville". Collider. 2010-10-15. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  4. ↑ Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY (2013-07-30). "Johnny Knoxville: Sidekicked in 'Bad Grandpa'". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  5. ↑ "[VIDEO] 'Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa' Starring Johnny Knoxville". Deadline.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  6. ↑ Ryan, Kyle (October 24, 2013). "Review: Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  7. ↑ Hall, Jacob (July 31, 2013). "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa Trailer - Johnny Knoxville Meets Borat". Screencrush. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  8. ↑ Ebiri, Bilge (October 25, 2013). "Ebiri: Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa Is the Anti-Borat". Vulture magazine. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa - Makeup and Hairstyling - Oscars 2014". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "The Trailer for Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa is Here!". ComingSoon.net. July 31, 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  11. ↑ Topel, Fred (14 March 2012). "SXSW Interview: Johnny Knoxville: On Arnold Schwarzenegger's comeback film The Last Stand, Nature Calls and more Jackass". craveonline.com. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  12. ↑ "Paramount Registers Domains For 'Jackass 4: Bad Grandpa'". SlashFilms.com. June 2012. Retrieved June 2012.
  13. ↑ "Howard Stern Show – Bam Margera's Stalker & Other Tales, Part 1 of 3". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  14. ↑ "JACKASS: BAD GRANDPA Set for October 25th; PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 5 Moves to January 3, 2014". Collider. 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 Alexander, Bryan (31 July 2013). "Johnny Knoxville: Sidekicked in 'Bad Grandpa'". USA Today. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  16. ↑ JimmyO (October 23, 2013). "Exclusive 1:1 Interview: Bad Grandpa Director Jeff Tremaine!". JoBlo.com. Joblo Media Inc. Retrieved December 12, 2013. We shot in Ohio quite a bit, in Columbus and Cleveland and North Carolina a lot
  17. ↑ "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa". Flixster Rotten Tomatoes. 2013-08-14. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  18. ↑ "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa Reviews". CBS Interactive Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  19. ↑ Author: Ashley Clark. "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa | review, synopsis, book tickets, showtimes, movie release date | Time Out London". Timeout.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  20. ↑ Scott Foundas Chief Film Critic @foundasonfilm. "‘Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa’ Review: Irving Zisman Gets His Closeup". Variety. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  21. ↑ "Los Angeles : Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa". Laweekly.com. 2013-07-20. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  22. ↑ "‘Bad Grandpa,’ movie review". New York: NY Daily News. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  23. ↑ Michael O'Sullivan (2012-04-24). "‘Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa’ movie review". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  24. ↑ Keough, Peter (2013-10-18). "That ‘Jackass’ crew strikes again - Movies". Boston.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  25. ↑ "'Bad Grandpa' is a terrible, hilarious influence". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  26. ↑ Scott Bowles, USA TODAY 6:01 p.m. EDT October 24, 2013 (2013-10-24). "'Bad Grandpa' matures to score candid camera laughs". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  27. ↑ Duralde, Alonso. "'Bad Grandpa' Review: 'Jackass' in Old-Man Drag Is Slightly Tamer but Still Outrageously Hilarious (Video)". TheWrap. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  28. ↑ Owen Gleiberman. "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa Movie Review". EW.com. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  29. ↑ "Bad Grandpa". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  30. ↑ Author: Sam Adams. "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa: movie review". Timeout.com. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  31. ↑ Peter Travers. "'Bad Grandpa' Movie Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  32. ↑ Peter Hartlaub (2013-10-16). "'Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa' review". SFGate. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  33. ↑ Sharkey, Betsy (2013-10-24). "Review: Johnny Knoxville's 'Bad Grandpa' is higher-brow lowbrow". latimes.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  34. ↑ Genzlinger, Neil (2014-01-12). "‘Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa,’ With More Pranks". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  35. ↑ Amy Nicholson. "Bad Grandpa's Kid Actor Outshines Johnny Knoxville". Village Voice. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  36. ↑ "Bad Grandpa packs a plot. But he’s still a Jackass: review". Toronto: Thestar.com. 2013-10-24. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  37. ↑ Ryan, Kyle. "Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  38. ↑ Steve Rose. "Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  39. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for October 25-27, 2013". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2013-10-27.
  40. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for November 1-3, 2013". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2013-11-10.
  41. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for November 8-10, 2013". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2014-01-16.
  42. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for November 15-17, 2013". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2014-01-16.
  43. ↑ "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  44. ↑ "'Bad Grandpa:' The Secret Of Johnny Knoxville's Accent". MTV. 2014-06-13. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  45. ↑ "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5 Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 2014-05-22.

External links