jackass: the movie

It's a shame that this wasn't screened for opening day review -- it would've been fun to read both the ravings of

desperate-to-be-hip old guys praising what they don't understand ("bravura high jinks," anyone?) and the expected chorus of those who proclaim it to be not only the worst movie ever made but also the real reason Al-Qaeda hates us, or similar hyperbolic nonsense. In truth, it's exactly what it appears to be: a series of blockheaded, masochistic stunts and pranks -- some hilarious, others simply gross -- performed by the usual gang of idiots, including Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Wee Man, Bam Margera (whose parent abuse makes Tom Green look like Beaver Cleaver), etc. An ideal midnight movie (note to theater managers: pay up your insurance premiums right now), it's incoherent and sloppy, yet it's also the funniest damn thing to hit the big screen this year. If it were in Danish, it might have more credibility with the culture police -- with the exception of one post-credits scene, jackass actually conforms very closely to the Dogme '95 manifesto.