Bad Grandpa (Jeff Tremaine, 2013)

Even before watching Bad Grandpa I'd seen one of the skits: the Grandpa in question (a heavily make-up'd Johnny Knoxville) gets his penis stuck in a vending machine and awkwardly asks for help from the passers by of a nearby gas station (squishy penis prop included). I'd been shown it by a friend the usual way: along with a long list of other online funnies, the fact this one was from an actual movie making it no different. All a sign that the rest of the world has finally caught up to the Jackass boys (weird to think that all technological progress was one big squishy penis gag).

It's actually Knoxville and Co.'s apparent knowledge that their usual antics now resemble binge watching your favorite Youtuber that explains the change of formula this time: it's not as random as before, the gags all acted out by the same two characters and connected by an actual story. And don't let the moniker 'Jackass Presents' fool you; there's no death-defying stunts, just Borat-style real world awkward situations acted out by an old man and a young boy - probably the two most perfect outputs for social awkwardness there is.

The story itself is simple (and told during the real world gags): the young boy, Billy (Jackson Nicoll), ends up with his Grandpa while his mother does prison time, the two setting out on a cross country road trip so Grandpa can hand over Billy to his stoner father. Grandpa's wife recently dead, he doesn't need the kid ruining his return to the land of freedom. Both actors deserve praise, especially Nicoll; the success of the film rested on finding a young actor who could actually pull off these pranks, which I imagine was no easy task.

Bad Grandpa isn't as devilishly funny as Jackass as its best, although it doesn't try to be; Knoxville, in his few leading roles in Hollywood, has always had a tenderness to him that you might not expect from a jackass. See The Ringer, him playing an impostor in the Special Olympics, for a film more sweet than you'd think its premise would allow. Bad Grandpa, funny more often than it's not, with a few missed gags, has a real heart to it; watching a gang of bikers, unscripted, defend the grandpa in the face of the abusive father is both a highlight, and a sign that Knoxville and the gang are more interested in the real world than a few 'old man shit himself' jokes. Although it has them too.