Bad Grandpa .5, 2014.
Directed by Jeff Tremaine.
Starring Johnny Knoxville, Spike Jonze, Jeff Tremaine and Catherine Keener.
SYNOPSIS:
A behind-the-scenes documentary on Bad Grandpa with over 40-minutes of never-before-seen footage.
Ever heard of a .5 movie release? I certainly hadn’t. It’s basically a “glorified behind-the-scenes doc with unseen footage,” my understandably frustrated Flickering Myth co-editor Luke Owen informed me, on the fifth time of me asking “BUT WHY ALL DA TALKING HEADZ!?” The amusing thing was, when I first began watching the film, it took about a quarter-hour for either me or my housemate to question whether this was the theatrical release. Some of that confusion comes from the cinema verite-style of Bad Grandpa itself, the rest speaks of the “glorified behind-the-scene’s doc’s” quality.
Whereas the theatrical release used the loose plot of Irving Zisman (prosthetically portrayed by Johnny Knoxville) and his grandson Billy’s (Jackson Nicoll) road trip across the US to tie together the skits, stunts and pranks, Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa .5 traces the titular character’s development through the Jackass ages to his own movie. A wide variety of aspects are touched upon – the improvement in make-up over the years (for which Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa was nominated for an Academy Award), how the pranks were devised and delivered (most fascinatingly of which are the ones that go wrong, a delivery man walking into Irving’s hotel room simply to announce, “You must be Johnny Knoxville.”), and the various frustrations of filming. The behind-the-veil peak is tantalising. There’s something life-affirming about watching a freshly-pranked New Yorker gleefully sign a release form after shouting aggressively at Irving for 15 minutes.
The Jackass crew will hold a special place in the hearts of a particular generation. Their buffoonery was sublime, their sacrifices for our entertainment idiotic and courageous in equal measure. To this day, I reminisce about the fog horn on the golf course. Bad Grandpa captures that transcendent tomfoolery more than any of the many imitators that have come, and gone, since.
Ultimately, however, Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa.5 is a just a DVD extra – an entertaining, very well-produced DVD extra, but a DVD extra nonetheless. There is nothing of the scope or insight afforded by film documentaries like Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse or Burden of Dreams. The filmmakers are too involved with the original’s production, making this come across more like a promotional exercise. By its very admittance, this is a ‘.5’. It’s half a movie. Not in length, or money, or star power, but in ideas.
Nevertheless, the previously unseen footage is very funny, the behind-the-scenes tales engaging and you get to see Johnny Knoxville tuck 18-inch saggy testicles into his socks.
Jackass Presents Bad Grampa .5 is now available on Digital and VOD.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Oliver Davis is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors. You can follow him on Twitter (@OliDavis).
Originally published July 21, 2014. Updated November 28, 2022.
