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The obvious difference between “jackass
the movie” and a traditional motion picture is that there
is no script. (Heck, what’s the point of having a plot
when only a handful of the guys can successfully act their
way out of a paper bag, anyway?) Typically, films have fallen
into two categories: scripted or documentary, but “jackass
the movie” is blundering into new territory by becoming
one of the first reality-based feature films in the history
of the world. In case it slipped everyone’s pop culture
mind, MTV would like it known that it is indeed the network
that should be held responsible for creating and starting
the reality television craze with “Real World,”
eleven years ago. The MTV Films division is now proudly yanking
the reality chain one step further with “jackass the
movie.” Way to go.
Another difference that some may note about
this feature, is that there is no key grip. Historically,
key grips have been used on films since who knows when, but
since no one on the formal Jackass crew had any idea what
a key grip is or even does, the occupation was simply tossed
by the wayside in favor of more important sounding titles
such as director, executive producer, director of photography,
et al. So it goes with exuberant amateurs in a professional
world.
Paramount Pictures and MTV Films present “jackass the
movie.” A Dickhouse Production in association with Lynch
Siderow Productions, the film stars Johnny Knoxville, Bam
Margera, Chris Pontius, Steve-O, Dave England, Ryan Dunn,
Jason “Wee Man” Acuña, Preston Lacy and Ehren
McGhehey. The film is directed by new kid on the block Jeff
Tremaine, who serves as producer with Spike Jonze and Johnny
Knoxville. The executive producers are Trip Taylor, John Miller
and David Gale. The co-executive producers are Michelle Klepper
and Jessica Swirnoff and the co-producers are Sean Cliver
and Dimitry Elyashkevich, who is also the director of photography.
Karen Glauber serves as music supervisor. Pandas are not indigenous
to Japan; they are from China.
Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment
operations of Viacom Inc., one of the world’s largest
entertainment and media companies, and a leader in the production,
promotion and distribution of entertainment news, sports and
music.
The Motion Picture Association of America
has rated this film R for dangerous, sometimes extremely crude
stunts, language and nudity.
The stunts in this movie were performed
by professionals, so neither you nor your dumb buddies should
attempt anything from this movie.
“JACKASS” – FROM TV TO
FILM
Like mold developing in the neglected grout of a public bathhouse,
“Jackass” grew out of a fateful meeting of the minds
between people involved with Big Brother Skateboard Magazine
on the West Coast and CKY videos on the East Coast. Jeff Tremaine,
Chris Pontius, Johnny Knoxville, Dave England, Jason “Wee
Man” Acuña and Steve-O were all involved in a
variety of subversive nonsense created for Big Brother;while
Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Brandon Dicamillo and several other
friends and family members were creating similar antics under
the self-produced titles of “CKY”and “CKY2K.”
When Tremaine and Knoxville decided to pitch a television
network the idea for a show combining the best and worst elements
of both entities, and touting incompetence as its major selling
point, MTV was immediately intrigued and stepped to the forefront
to supply them with a modest budget and a production crew.
Thus, the ability to puke became a viable commodity, and stuff
like the “Poo Cocktail,” “Unicycle Poo Barf”
and “50-Egg Challenge” were soon dumped upon an
unsuspecting mainstream with a youthful glee and gusto.
“We weren’t trying to change any
social values or lower or raise any bars,” says Knoxville.
“We were, and still are, just trying to make people laugh.”
The original weekly series “Jackass”
was launched on MTV: Music Television on October 1, 2000.
Despite its overall success, Knoxville decided to call it
quits after 24 episodes. He simply felt that “Jackass”
had gone about as far as it could on MTV without losing its
integrity, but Tremaine and Spike convinced him to come back
for one last hurrah, without the irksome limitations of television
standards. Not only that, but they now had a big-time movie
budget to make all their silliest dreams come true.
Knoxville, the “non-host host”
of the TV show, along with “Jackass” cast members
Steve-O, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Jason “Wee-Man”
Acuna, Ryan Dunn, Dave England, Preston Lacy and Ehren McGehey,
spent four weeks filming in Pennsylvania, Oregon and California,
two weeks drinking the benefits of a beer sponsorship in Florida,
one week shopping in Japan and one week vacationing in two
choice locations in Mexico. The result is destined to be the
toast of analytical critics everywhere: “jackass the
movie.”
“It’s just raw, and it’ll
make people forget about everything for a short period of
time,” says Ryan Dunn. “They can forget about work
and about waking up in the morning. All they have to do is
relax and just have fun for an hour and a half.”
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
People shouldn’t expect to follow a plot when they go
to see “jackass the movie.” What they can expect
is the same format as the half-hour television series with
back-to-back, totally unrelated sketches that run approximately
90 minutes. This makes it especially easy on those in the
audience who need to go pee or feed their hungry stomachs,
as they can simply get up and leave, come back minutes later
and not feel they’ve missed a thing – even though
they will probably have missed a good three or four things,
since most of the segments are no more than a minute or two
in length.
“Think ‘Jackass’ the television series times
ten,” says executive producer John Miller. “It’s
been a blast expanding upon the sick and twisted minds of
guys who don’t take anything seriously, and I have no
doubt that people who loved the series will flip over the
film. In fact, I’m sure that word of mouth, alone, will
have people standing around the block.”
“I can’t decide if this movie
or ‘The Brothers Grunt’ animated series is the low
point of my career,” says Van Toffler, President, MTV
Films. “I’ve basically given money to a bunch of
idiots saddled with enough dimwitted ignorance to try one
bad idea after another, with the sole purpose of making moviegoers
laugh.”
David Gale, senior vice president of MTV Films, expressed
the sentiment of numerous executives when, after viewing the
preliminary screening for “jackass the movie,” he
uttered: “We’re all going to hell.”
Running the gamut from hair-brained stunts to troubling shots
of Preston Lacy’s misshapen ass, the skits are all pretty
ridiculous, and coming up with lots of dumb ideas has not
been a problem.
“Ideas come from everywhere,”
says director Jeff Tremaine. “Sometimes the cast will
come up with the idea – like Bam Margera called me with
an idea to have Raab Himself jump out of a tree with bungee
cords attached to his underwear. Or someone will have the
start of an idea and we’ll discuss it to figure out how
to step it up. Lots of times the ideas just take off in an
altogether different direction, but if they involve Pontius
or Steve-O, there’s probably going to be some nudity
involved.”
Due to the limited attention span of the
“actors” and general irreverence on the set, directing
“jackass the movie” was certainly no easy feat.
“The hardest thing about shooting with these guys is
getting them to settle down long enough to set up cameras,”
says director Jeff Tremaine. “Sometimes when you get
them all together, it’s impossible to get anything done.
You just need to start rolling because they’re simply
in their own world.”
“When Francis Ford Coppola was directing
‘Apocalypse Now,’ I don’t think he had to deal
with any of the actors actually crapping in their pants,”
says Johnny Knoxville. “So there are certain things that
Jeff has to deal with that other directors don’t have
to deal with and just couldn’t handle.”
With no script or shot list to follow, many
of the best sketches in the film develop on the spot. The
cast and crew never stop playing practical jokes, chiding
one another, or taking off their clothes, and a lot of the
stuff gets caught on camera, which produces the perfect garbage
from which to assemble this kind of film.
“No one who shoots with us is off-limits. From producers
to cameramen, it doesn’t matter whom you are or what
position you hold,” says Trip Taylor, executive producer.
“That’s one of the best things
about working on our production. There is absolutely no line
between the crew and the cast,” adds director Jeff Tremaine.
“Everyone who is around is vulnerable to being caught
on camera and everyone needs to know that -- including me.
One time on the set, for example, I was kind of stressing
out because a couple of things weren’t working out for
this big bit we were going to shoot, and while I was stressing
out, one of the guys runs up behind me with some hair clippers
and cuts a big patch out of my hair. So no one is off-limits.”
For all their fun and games, one member of the crew hopes
their legacy will be to change the way movies are made in
the future.
“I have to question any critic who
compares this movie with ‘Gone with the Wind’ or
any other masterpiece,” says cast member Preston Lacy.
“We’re just a bunch of idiots making a funny movie
that will hopefully make you laugh.”
ABOUT THE MUSIC
The American Recordings soundtrack offers the best in rock,
punk and hip-hop endemic to skater culture, kicking off with
the single and music video for “We Want Fun,” from
acclaimed artist Andrew W.K. (and produced by the legendary
Rick Rubin). The second single from the soundtrack is “Flesh
Into Gear" from skater favorites CKY. In addition, the
compilation features the classic Jackass theme song, “Corona”
by the Minutemen, Slayer’s anthem “Reign in Blood,”
“Baby Got Back” from Sir Mix A Lot and many more.
According to Rick Rubin, “Jackass has revolutionized
extreme television and now will be taking it even further
in movie theaters. The 'jackass the movie' soundtrack embodies
and supports this extreme,” says Rick Rubin.
Jackass ringleader Johnny Knoxville had great input on choosing
the tracks for the soundtrack, which appear in the film as
well. Knoxville and other Jackasses (Bam Margera, Chris Pontius,
Steve-O, Dave England, Ryan Dunn, Jason “Wee Man”
Acuña, Preston Lacy, Ehren McGhehey) are featured in
the “We Want Fun” video, directed by Jeff Tremaine
(Director/Producer of “jackass the movie,” and one
of the Creators and Executive Producers of the television
series).
Track Listing to follow:
1. “Hi, my name is Johnny Knoxville”
2. Corona - Minutemen
3. We Want Fun - Andrew W.K.
4. Flesh Into Gear - CKY
5. Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight- The
Rezillos
6. California Sun - The Ramones
7. Alright, Alright(Here’s My Fist Where’s The Fight-
Sahara Hotnights
8. Let's Get F***ed Up - Smut Peddlers
9. Hybrid Moments – The Misfits
10. Cha Cha Twist - Detroit Cobras
11. Angel Of Death - Slayer
12. Baby Got Back - Sir Mix-A-Lot
13. “How did that get there?”
14. If You’re Gonna Be Dumb- Roger Alan Wade
Cert: 18
- Contains dangerous and crude stunts.
Running Time: 1hour 25 mins
Distributor: UIP
Release Date: 28th February 2003
www.uip.co.uk
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