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Hurt 'til It Laughs

By Tricia Olszewski
Washington City Paper | September 29, 2006
You won’t hear anyone leaving Jackass Number Two cooing, “Why, that was rahther droll, wasn’t it, dahling?” But even those who are partial to Dorothy Parker–type witticisms may find it astonishing how funny a lineup of guys getting unexpectedly punched in the face can be. And as most people know, that’s largely all there is to the Jackass ideology. The former MTV series, co-created in 2000 by Number Two director Jeff Termaine, Adaptation director Spike Jonze, and star Johnny Knoxville, is centered on a bunch of cackling idiots performing stunts that range from simply moronic (such as the secondslong “Rake Jump”) to potentially fatal (dodging bulls is a favorite). Also, there’s a lot of vomit. And excrement. And bare asses and gas, usually aimed in another’s general direction. Written by participant Preston Lacy and first-time scripter Sean Cliver, the sequel includes the usual gang, including Wee Man, Steve-O, and Bam Margera, famous for tormenting his bafflingly game parents, who also make an appearance. You’ll find a couple of their activities familiar—how many different ways can the guys propel themselves into water?—and the gag-inducers, for better or worse, more nauseating than ever. (The cameramen earn their pay.) You might even pity some of them, such as when Dave England nearly tears up before a pellet-firing stunt, saying he’s about to have an anxiety attack with Knoxville reassuring him, “It’s going to hurt really bad, but it’s just loud!” Even if you’re immune to the unexplainable hilarity of watching adult men willingly get walloped, there’s a good amount of freak-on-the-street dadaist humor here, too, with Jonze, for instance, disguised as a rather “open” elderly woman and a sketch called “Old Man’s Balls” that may just be the funniest few minutes in movies this year. Odds are that many viewers will think the gang’s terrorist put-on, with Ehren McGhehey dressed as a Muslim with dynamite strapped to his torso (and a questionable beard glued to his face), has gone too far. It’s slightly redeemed, however, when it becomes a prank-within-a-prank turned on McGhehey himself. At the end of his increasingly worsening ordeal, he laments, “Was the dick hair necessary?” Of course it was.
Tags: Jeff Tremaine, Jackass Number Two

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