Rosie Searle
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
sol-
Not to be confused with the similarly titled Robert De Niro vehicle 'Dirty Grandpa', this earlier comedy starring Johnny Knoxville could be dubbed "Dirtier Grandpa" with gags that are cruder and push barriers even further. The plot revolves around an old man reluctantly taking his grandson on a road trip to meet his estranged father, gradually bonding with him along the way. Simplistic as this may sound, it is admirable that the filmmakers were actually able to create a cohesive narrative here given that the film involves unsuspecting individuals being pranked by the film crew a la 'Borat' and 'Brüno'. Not only that, they are often pranked in quite dangerous ways, with Knoxville forced through a glass window at one point! For a film involving grandfather and grandson though, the film derives a few too many laughs from just the old man for its own good. It is quite telling that the film's absolute best scene involves a child beauty pageant that they crash late in the piece, with the fact that they are both 'in on it' together rendering it such a memorable sequence of events. Knoxville is, however, skilled enough to carry the film in his moments without his youthful co-star, and Oscar nominated makeup or not, his portrayal of a man more than twice his actual age is nothing short of remarkable. This is also one of those rare movies that is worth sitting through the whole end credits for; not only do we get to see Knoxville pre and post makeup, we also get to see the reactions of those pranked after finding out that they are in a candid camera type film.
sanpav1232004
A couple of funny moments at the start of the movie does not make for a good comedy. If you are into crass and mindless comedy this is the film for you, otherwise don't waste your time. It just seems to stress the fact that Deniro is desperately trying to pretend that he is still valid and at the same time losing all of his self respect as an actor. To be using the N word in this movie just truly discredits this movie of any worth. And maybe in these times we can try not to make blatant racist comments seem acceptable at any level. To make matters worse, the perverted nature of some of the scenes including a child and the bizarre banter between Deniro and a young actress makes it seem like the script was written by an old man that can't accept his coming of age. Lowest rating possible.
wordsmyth-98272
Yeah ... I get satire.This is the worst, most dehumanizing, massively amoral, and continuously and infallibly ignorant thing I have ever seen.It is not effectively satirical. It is simply a series of the most anti-social, unacceptable, sub-human behavior the morons behind it could imagine. Funny? Amusing? Entertaining? None of the above.I've just - quite unwillingly - been subjected to most of this aberrant insanity.I cannot see a single redeeming quality in this piece of garbage.The fools who made it and are in it are the best argument for bringing back horse-whipping and the use of public pillories.
Bryan Kluger
'Jackass' is back! Well, sort of. Johnny Knoxville has re-teamed with his 'Jackass' crew, including director Jeff Tremaine, to make a new movie centered on his character Irving Zisman, an elderly man who steals, curses, and fools real people into thinking that he's harmed himself by doing a variety of stunts and gags. Also, he likes to show off his 12-inch sagging scrotum to anyone who walks by. Mixing in a narrative story with real pranks on real people, 'Bad Grandpa' is like 'Borat' with the 'Jackass' brand. And man, does it work. I haven't laughed so hard in a movie theater in a long time.If you've seen any of the 'Jackass' movies, you should know that the Irving character is raunchy, vulgar and not above putting himself in harm's way. The narrative story here features a kid named Billy (Jackson Nicoll) whose mother is about to start a prison sentence for drugs and other felonies. She gives the kid to her father Irving (Knoxville) in the middle of the funeral ceremony for his recently deceased wife. She tells him to drive Billy across country to be with his father. Needless to say, Billy's father is no prized human either. He sells drugs and stolen electronics.Billy and Irving embark on a long road trip with many misadventures along the way. The movie is mostly shot with hidden HD cameras, as Knoxville captures real people and their real reactions to his gags, which are often very funny. From Irving getting his schlong stuck inside a vending machine to Billy posing as a girl in a toddler beauty pageant, all of the pranks had me laughing 'til I cried. Yet there's less of a gross-out factor than the other 'Jackass' movies. Instead, we get comically awkward moments with real people at their jobs, such as Irving trying to overnight Billy in a package at the post office.What works here is the chemistry between Knoxville and Nicoll. The boy is far advanced from his actual age, and can keep up with Knoxville's antics and improvisations. He's a cute kid and is genuinely funny throughout. As for Knoxville, he amps up his Irving character to 11 and never holds back. Although I wasn't too sure about making a whole movie about this character, I was pleasantly surprised at how funny it turned out.
