Saturday, October 26, 2013

Bad Grandpa Review - 2 Stars

So I was actually looking forward to “Bad Grandpa” because like a lot of semi mature adults, I have enjoyed the “Jackass” movies in which Johnny Knoxville does terrible things to his person just to see what happens.  As “Bad Grandpa” Knoxville plays a character in a movie with a bit of a plot.  The old man begins by celebrating the death of his wife and then at the funeral hears from his daughter that she’s going to jail and he will have to take her son to live with his deadbeat father.  The kid is played by child actor Jackson Nicoll–I hope the experience doesn’t scar Jackson for life because he’s quite likable on-screen.  That said, “Bad Grandpa” uses the plot to showcase Knoxville’s stunts.  Those stunts include a motorized bed gone wild at an estate sale, a kiddie ride propelled through a plate glass window, a fart contest that ends with a number two explosion all over the walls of a small town diner.  You get the idea.  “Bad Grandpa” doesn’t quite make it as a movie.  The plot feels like a lull between gags.  The filmmakers say they wanted to pay tribute to “Paper Moon”  Nice idea but not quite.  Oh yeah, the kid recreates the strip scene from ‘Little Miss Sunshine”—I guess they paid tribute to that, too.  Does it deliver what it promises?  Stunts with a thin plot.  Is it entertaining?  Occasionally.  Is it worth the price of admission?  A disappointment.