‘Jackass’ delivers laughs but not for everyone

loading...

In theaters

JACKASS: THE MOVIE, directed by Jeff Tremaine, 85 minutes, rated R.

When it comes to pulling an outrageous stunt, one that inspires laughter as well as shock, it’s pretty much impossible to top Winona Ryder’s recent claim that she ripped off that Beverly Hills department store because she was doing research for a movie.

Oh, Winona. Here’s hoping that prison jumpsuit you’ll be wearing matches those handbags you stole.

Anyway, this week’s second-biggest laugh comes from “Jackass: The Movie,” which nearly bests the stupidity and daring of Ryder’s court defense, offering the sort of stunts that turned “Jackass,” the canceled MTV series on which the film is based, into such a controversial hit.

To say that the movie, if you can even call it that, isn’t for everyone, is an understatement of the first order. Indeed, those easily offended by, say, testicular electrocution, the consumption of “yellow snow cones,” bungee wedgies, nipple-nibbling crocs, vomiting cameramen or a man walking into a hardware store to publicly use one of the display toilets, should stay away. Far away. Japan would be a good place.

Actually, it wouldn’t. In the film, which is exactly what fans of the series expect – only raunchier, with the obscenities and the male nudity left intact – Japan weighs in heavily as the Jackass team, led by Johnny Knoxville, descends on Tokyo.

There, in the busy streets, they pull all sorts of pranks, 80 percent of which are not raunchy, such as a very funny bit in which they dress up in panda suits for a destructive (yet relatively harmless) night on the town or stripping down to G-strings in the middle of department stores while patrons look on in bemused wonderment or outright dismay. Other skits hit more often than they miss, such as “Rent-a-Car-Crash-Up-Derby,” “Golf Cart Fiasco,” “Rocket Skates,” “Off-Road Tattoo” and, my favorite, “Fireworks Wake Up.” I could have done without “Paper Cuts,” “Sea Cucumbers” and “Butt X-Ray,” but, hey, that’s just me.

Essentially, “Jackass” is about grown men exploring and celebrating what it means for boys to be boys – especially if the boys in question happen to be deranged, self-destructive, insane fools willing to do anything to get a laugh. That the movie is funny, sometimes deliriously so, jolting the laughs from the audience as if they were poking their funny bones with cattle prods, stands as one of the year’s bigger surprises.

Grade: B

On video and DVD

SPIDER-MAN, directed by Sam Raimi, written by David Koepp, 120 minutes, rated PG-13.

Legs down, Sam Raimi’s $400-plus million blockbuster, “Spider-Man,” is the best comic book adaptation since 1989’s “Batman,” a smart, thrilling film that respects the franchise while giving audiences an exhilarating kick in the process.

Based on the comic book series Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created for Marvel Comics in 1962, the film stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, the nerdish 17-year-old high school boy from Queens, N.Y., who goes on to realize great things from a spider bite.

As with anyone bullied in high school, there is within Peter another person fighting to come through, someone tired of being a punching bag for his peers and who wishes to be validated and appreciated for who he is. Thus, a great deal of “Spider-Man’s” fun comes from watching Peter’s transformation after the spider bite, which isn’t just physical as his wiry body thickens with muscle, but almost spiritual as he realizes the confidence that has forever eluded him.

For those who feel Peter’s pain, his transformation from geek to superhero will be a dream fantasy come true; for others, it’ll merely be cool. Regardless, when Peter first takes flight through the concrete canyons of Manhattan, spinning his tangled webs and swinging high through the skyscrapers like Nureyev on Ecstasy, it’s doubtful that anyone watching won’t be caught up in the moment – or floored by the sheer artistry of John Dystra’s special effects.

And yet “Spider-Man” isn’t overwhelmed by its special effects; what’s more important to Raimi are those elements of a story that matter most – his characters, including Peter’s girl-next-door love interest, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), his Aunt May and Uncle Ben (Rosemary Harris and Cliff Robertson), and Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), the billionaire businessman with the mean scowl who eventually sours into the Green Goblin.

Too violent for younger children yet perfect for those seeking the answer to what the superhero has come to mean in a world gone increasingly mad, “Spider-Man” is the first of three planned Spider-Man movies, which means that, in the end, it pulls off the most unexpected feat of all: it re-establishes faith in the Web as a moneymaking venture.

Grade: A-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores, starting alphabetically with the most current releases.

Eight Legged Freaks ? B

Spider-Man ? A-

Sum of All Fears ? D

E.T.: 20th Anniversary Edition ? A

Mr. Deeds ? D

Insomnia ? A

Life or Something Like It ? B-

Scooby-Doo ? C-

Windtalkers ? C-

Big Trouble ? D

Enough ? C-

Jason X ? Bomb

Brotherhood of the Wolf ? B

The Scorpion King ? B

Enigma ? C

Monsoon Wedding ? A-

Murder by Numbers ? C

Death to Smoochy ? B+

40 Days and 40 Nights ? C-

Monsters, Inc. ? A-

Panic Room ? B

Changing Lanes ? B

Count of Monte Cristo ? B+

Frailty ? C-

Blade II: B+

High Crimes ? C

Queen of the Damned ? C-

Iris ? B

Joe Somebody ? D

The Rookie ? A-

The Sweetest Thing ? D+

We Were Soldiers ? B+

Birthday Girl ? B

The Business of Strangers ? B

Clockstoppers ? C

In the Bedroom ? A

The New Guy ? D

Showtime ? C+

Deuces Wild ? D-

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ? B+

Collateral Damage ? D

Dragonfly ? D

Resident Evil ? C-

Crossroads ? C-

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist: B-

The Time Machine ? D-

Amelie ? A

John Q. ? C-

Pinero ? B

Charlotte Gray ? B+

Hart’s War ? B

The Royal Tenenbaums ? B+

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius ? B+

Shallow Hal ? C

A Beautiful Mind ? B

Gosford Park ? B+

I Am Sam ? C

The Majestic ? D-

Max Keeble’s Big Move ? B

Orange County ? C-

The Shipping News ? C

Rollerball ? F

Black Hawk Down ? B

Kate & Leopold ? C+

Monster’s Ball ? A

The Mothman Prophecies ? C

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ? B 3/4

Sidewalks of New York ? B-

Lantana ? A

Vanilla Sky ? B+

Corky Romano ? D-

From Hell ? C

The Others ? B+

Snow Dogs ? B-

Ocean’s Eleven ? B

Waking Life ? A

Ali ? B+

Not Another Teen Movie ? C-

Behind Enemy Lines ? C-

No Man’s Land ? A

Black Knight ? F

The Deep End ? A

Domestic Disturbance ? C

The Man Who Wasn’t There ? B+

Mulholland Drive ? A

Spy Game ? C+

Bandits ? D

13 Ghosts ? F

Donnie Darko ? B

K-Pax ? B-

Life as a House ? C

Original Sin ? F

Our Lady of the Assassins ? B+

Riding in Cars with Boys ? B-

Training Day ? B-

Heist ? B+

Joy Ride ? B+

Zoolander ? C-

A.I. ? B-

The Last Castle ? C-

Sexy Beast ? B+

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back ? F

The Musketeer ? D-

The Taste of Others ? A-

Don’t Say a Word ? C-

Hardball ? C+

O ? B+

Hearts in Atlantis ? B

Life Without Dick ? D

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin ? D

Ghost World ? A

Lost & Delirious ? C-

Atlantis: The Lost Empire ? C

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion ? B-

Lisa Picard is “Famous” ? B