User Reviews

In 2000 a show started airing on MTV that had a group of guys performing stunts. These were not just regular stunts, these were stunts that required a "don't try this at home warning" before every show. I never was a fan, or I thought I wasn't, the problem was I never actually sat down and watched it. Well it was such a success the guys took their antics to the big screen, and that is where I discovered the joy of Jackass. Johnny Knoxville can take a hit, as well as everyone in his crew. Now, while some things border on disgusting, in the end you can do nothing but laugh at just how far these guys will go. Unlike the previous movies/ TV show, "Bad Grandpa" is a different approach, but provides just as many laughs. Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) has just lost his wife. To make things more complicated, his daughter drops off his grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll), so that Irving can take him to his father who lives cross country. The deal is, it's all fake. The purpose of the trip is to catch people's reaction to everything from stealing, destroying property, and even crashing a kid beauty pageant. They do this all while having Irving's dead wife in the trunk. It is all done for laughs, and trust me you will have plenty of those as you watch this movie. It is easy to be like how I was before I actually watched these guys in action and judge them as idiots. In the end they may be idiots, but they will make you laugh, and at times cry. I know these movies are not for everyone, but for those of you who go see it, you will have a great time. You get to see a picture of Middle America and the many characters we have living in this great country. I haven't laughed as hard in a movie in a long time, and I have seen a lot of so called comedies this year alone that did very little to bring the funny. So don't be like me, don't judge this book by its cover. Go see "Bad Grandpa" because the world is a much better place with laughter, and this movie provides plenty of it. Brian Taylor

Simply put, there is no reason for this movie to exist. It tries to be funny, but is not. It tries to tell a heartwarming story, but it doesn't. It is a film in a niche genre of hidden camera movies and every part of it is inferior to Sasha Baron Cohen's "Borat" (2006) and "Bruno" (2009).

Johnny Knoxville is made to look like an old man. It is well done and probably the best part of the film. He goes on a cross country trip with his "grandson". The humor is generally of the gross out variety or the inappropriately foul mouthed child/elderly person. This type of humor cannot carry a film; it might work for a bit or a sketch, but not for an hour and a half. It tries to make situations funnier by showing real people's reactions. However, the people's reactions aren't that funny. At least in Bruno and "Borat" the way people react to the title characters also reflects some sort of societal message or commentary. There is nothing profound in any of the Bad Grandpa sketches. Also, one bit, the raunchy child's beauty pageant, is taken straight out of "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006). It was funny then, but not so much now. It isn't shocking, since it's been seen before.

Even though the crux of this genre is people's reactions to various situations, it is accompanied by some sort of overarching story. In Borat, it was Borat's desire to kidnap Pamela Anderson and take her as his wife: a ridiculous plot to a ridiculous character. In Bad Grandpa, however, the plot is more realistic. The grandpa has to take his grandson, who he isn't fond of, to his biological father, but the father is a low-life. But in the end, Johnny Knoxville's character decides to take care of the child. The relationship grows primarily through conversations between the two as they drive. However, these scenes are surrounded by scenes of the two pulling pranks on real people. This juxtaposition makes the scenes between just the two of them seem incredibly fake and not believable in the slightest.

tl;dr This movie is awful, not funny, and came out 7 years too late. Only watch it if you enjoy dick jokes and laugh at swear words.

This is so much funnier than it should be. There were times in this movie that I just could not stop laughing. The people are all real, only the boy, and Knoxville and a select few are plants, the rest of this is like an insane episode of Just For Laughs out of Montreal, or the little shorts you see on a Jackass movie, just going on for the whole movie. Mostly skits like Letterman would do, but some far more toward the Chris Elliott side. You will hate yourself for laughing at parts of this movie, and there is just no getting around that, it is the basest humour, but it is done so well, and with that kid making everything feel just that little bit worse. I really Enjoyed this movie, I did not think I would, I was not expecting this sort of thing when I started watching it, and was surprised that the format is so much like Borat even, just not quite as far (or further)depends on your views. I would bet though no matter who you are, or how delicate your sensibilities, there is something in this movie that will have you on the floor, or at least holding your sides, and gasping for air. Anything that makes me laugh this hard gets a 10 as long as I was able to hold down my lunch. (a point was nearly lost, and so was my lunch)

Jesse of www.jesse.ca

Luckily I had seen four previous great movies,so I figured 4/5 intelligent,engrossing movies is not too bad in the last few months. This movie was gross,boring,raunchy,disgusting & really sickening.I am by no means a prude or turned off slapstick,but this film had no redeeming qualities. Feces,farts,penises,beer,& constant shallow dialogue was not one bit funny. When I saw "Borat" with Sacha Baron Cohen a number of years ago, I laughed so much that tears were running down my face. There was a message in this movie.In"Bad Grandpa",there is no message. It is empty,bathroom humour constantly. The movie tries so hard to copy "Borat" & to be funny,but in my opinion,it fails miserably. I should have walked out after the first half hour & asked for a refund. What a complete waste of an afternoon! Do your due diligence and read all the reviews. Don't throw away your money and time on this silly,gross out film.

Honestly, in my opinion, this movie wasn't so bad. It wasn't really that dumb when you think about it. While, it didn't shoehorn much of a moral story. It did had some to work with all the empathy. Directed by Jeff Tremaine, this film had a lot of character development between the 86 year old Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) and his grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll) throughout the film, as both find themselves closer through all the hijinx of their cross-country trip. Irving find himself, taking care of his grandson, Billy after Billy's mother was sent to jail for drugs. Irving, who doesn't wish to take care of the boy, seeks to return the boy to his father half way across the country. While, Irving Zisman indeed is a pretty bad grandpa who is trying loosen up after the death of his wife. At less, he is care more about the kid than the kid's father who wants him only for the money. We see the movie get very smart toward the end as Irving realize better, and with the help of the biker gang, Guardians of the Children seek out to reclaim the boy. Let's remember that the writer was indeed Spike Jonze known for some really smart films out there like 2009's Where the Wild Things Are and 2013's Her. Indeed, this movie might have the 'Jackass Presents' on the title, but it seems to me that the movie has mature enough to be watchable. Still, there are some faults of the film, I didn't find so much. First off, Johnny Knoxville acting chops. Unlike, Sasha Baron Cohen's 2006's hit 'Borat', the character of Irving Zisman doesn't really jump out on me. I found myself, watching Johnny Knoxville in old man make up acting horny rather than Irving. It didn't help that Johnny Knoxville's Irving sounds like his normal voice. I'm surprised that not a lot of people couldn't notice it was him in the film with all that make up. It's unlike the character, Borat who is from a British show that a lot of Americans didn't watch. The character of the grandpa was a signature character in the show 'Jackass', and the series of movies after it. People in Middle America had to saw 'Jackass' at less once in their lives. The film even tries to relive the charm of seeing an old guy trying to shoplift again. A lot of the most insane hidden camera pranks in this film is pretty funny. The scene with the male stripper got me laughing the most. The less funny scene for me is the fishing at the golf scene. I think the trailer for this film kinda ruin the child beauty pageant part of the film as it pretty much show the funniest part of the film so seeing it again wasn't new. They should had save those scenes to be shown later. The movie was fun and so enjoyable. Still, I did think the ending of this film did cop out and copied 2006's Little Miss Sunshine in many ways, not only with the pageant part, but the idea of moving a dead body illegally in your trunk. It was bit cheap. Another thing about the film is how fake some of the people on film reaction to the stunts or pranks. It seems like some scenes were at least partially scripted since the cameras were following him very closely for the audio. I believe they really did try to use real people, but when the scene didn't turn out the way they liked they reshot it using the same people and then it became more of an acted scene. Some other scenes look like it had paid actors acting like they were prank on such as the penguin scene. They probably did that with most of the movie and used a mixture of real scenes with staged incredibly setup scenes. So that is why some of the jokes fall flat. Yes, some people were on the prank, but it shows that after the credits, the people who weren't in on the prank getting notified that they were filming a movie. Every scene there are actual camera crews walking with the cast except for a few scenes. Then the film has scene has about 4-6 different clear camera angles so it's hard to believe that the people didn't realize they were being filmed prior to the stunt. At less, in Borat, they made the excuse for the cameras being presented because Borat was making a documentary about America. Here in this film, there is little reason why they are there. The film had little suspension, and pretty predictable outcomes. It's hard to take this film seriously, anyways, because it was a bit over the top. Yes, some of the humor was pretty gross. Now, saying that, I did have a couple good laughs despite the potty humor. Some critics got anger because they think the filmmakers were exploiting the young actor that played Billy. Maybe, a little bit. It was kinda risky to ask a child to do an adult like strip show. Still, it's no different than Toddlers and Tiaras. It's so perverted both ways that it deserved to parody on. People need to come off their high horses. Bad or good, this movie provides what movies were made for; escapism. Some people just want to shut their brains off for 90 minutes and laugh. Intelligence people have been enjoying cheap, violent and low brow comedy for decades. It's not the film worth over analyzing about it. Just a fun little film to dumb down to.

There were many pranks and stunts in the Jackass franchise (TV show and movies) with the front man disguised as an old man, "bad grandpa", an old man acting and talking foul with his grandson, featured in Jackass 2, and was turned into a film, in similar style to Borat, and I was looking forward to it. Basically, the wife of eighty-six-year-old Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) has passed away. At the funeral, his daughter Kimmie (Georgina Cates) shows up with Irving's eight-year-old grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll). She is going back to prison for breaking parole and she needs him to take the child to be with his father until she is released. Irving reluctantly agrees and with a counsellor talks to his son Chuck (Greg Harris), Billy's father, via webcam to explain the situation. Chuck initially refuses to take the child, but his girlfriend comes in mentioning child support, so he agrees to meet in Raleigh, North Carolina in a few days to take him. Before leaving, Irving sells some of Ellie's stuff, and he asks two men to help him get her body in his trunk to take and bury her somewhere properly. He and Billy get in the car and start driving. Stopping for food, the old man ends up shot in a kiddie ride through a store window. Frustrated, Irving tries to ship the boy in a box, but the post office women refuse to deliver anything living, so he agrees to take him on the road. Irving stops on the way for a game of bingo, trying to hit on many women there, drinking ink from marker pens and getting out a margarita maker. Billy meanwhile tricks a man into helping tie his shoe laces and trying to get him to adopt him. Irving and Billy next get into trouble trying to steal food from a store, opening and eating from packets. After being let go, they stop at a motel, with their neighbour seeing Ellie's corpse being pulled from the trunk. Irving wants to go to a strip club, but he misunderstands a "ladies only" sign and is surrounded by many male strippers. There, he tries to make a move on the women as a performer himself, taking his clothes off and letting his long testicles dangle. The following morning, Billy goes looking for him at strip clubs and an adult store, telling an employee she looks like a stripper. Back on the road, they stop again at a diner, with the old man hitting a large penguin statue with the car. In the diner, Billy asks his grandpa why he has to be with his father when he doesn't like him. They bond while farting, but Irving follows through and defecates on the wall. They leave and bond playing baseball and doing other fun activities. They sneak into a wedding reception for some free food, and cause a disaster. Eventually, they make it to Raleigh, Chuck is there waiting at a bar. In the bar, there are also biker organisation the Guardians of Children, who help abused kids. Irving bids his grandson a sad farewell, having bonded with him during their time on the road. GOC members notice Chuck's bad attitude towards his son. Irving drives away and reminisces on his time with Billy, and realises his mistake, driving bacl to the diner. Chuck tries to fight with his father and keep the boy for the benefits, but the biker gang hold him back and allow the grandpa and grandson to leave together,. Irving accidentally hits the gang's motorcycles while driving away. To celebrate their reunion, Irving and Billy decide to crash a child beauty pageant, with Billy dressing as a girl. He initially charms the judges and worries the competition, but makes a final performance dressed as a stripper pole and does a risqué dance to "Cherry Pie" by Warrant, until his wig falls off, revealing he is a boy, and they flee. In the end, Irving and Billy stop on a bridge, throwing Ellie's body over into the river, she sarcastically said that was where she wanted to go after she dies, and the grandfather and grandson start fishing. Outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage plays during the end credits, including the reactions after the pranks on the members of the public. Also starring Spike Jonze as Gloria and The 40 Year-Old Virgin's Catherine Keener as Ellie Zisman. The film is dedicated to Ryan Dun, who died in a drink driving crash. The loose story within the hidden camera action is simple and works well, Knoxville is funny under the great makeup, and Niccol is cute and naughty, they have terrific chemistry. But it is the setups, with smashing stunts, bodily functions, naughty dialogue, and over-the-top moments (the beauty pageant was already creepy enough) that will make you almost wet your pants laughing, a hilarious hidden-camera comedy. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Good!

Spoiler Alert: Enjoy the movie first if you don't want to be sullied by another's opinion.

I'm going to throw water on the party here. This movie absolutely stinks. There is nothing funny about any of it. The producers should be arrested for child abuse for making this child actor endure comedy routines that are so stale and unfunny that they amount to abuse.

Maybe if I was a 12 year old retarded, inbred specimen with an IQ registered percentage of the lower 10%, there may be something in this movie I would find funny. But I have a brain and a decent IQ percentage wise. I really tried to enjoy this movie because I think Knoxville has talent but alas nothing works and I mean nothing. This movie is as funny as "Gravity" is profound.

Knoxville as a grumpy old man is no Mathau or Lemon or Art Carney. All played grumpy old men with some flair and comedy. Even Morgan Freeman's effort at playing old were funnier before he was old playing old where there was no comedy only pathos.

There is just nothing here. Even the gags stink and are set up so poorly that there just is no surprise. Maybe all the fun is sitting on the edit room floor. It certainly is not in this movie.

M 0 It's really a zero. It really is. Really.

The movie really incorporates a very interesting concept of adding the reality show and the spontaneous candid-camera reaction into a story. I really like how many of the scenes need pretty immense setups for them too work. But I find it quite surprising that there are only few spontaneous reactions that are of good responsibility and concerned while most of them are only smiles and giggles. What's really bad about this movie is that it points out how the western culture especially Americans actually are being decadent and have decaying moral values that only few people stood up to correct the depicted wrong doings. Johnny Knoxville acted his way through all of those candid-camera scenes very well. It's just he need to alter his voice just a little bit more so that he'd get less noticeable, but the makeup sure help a lot in hiding his identity.