Jackass Forever (2022)

Directed by: Jeff Tremaine | 96 minutes | comedy, documentary, action | Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Ehren McGhehey, Jason ‘Wee Man’ Acuña, Preston Lacy, Davon Wilson, Sean McInerney, Zach Holmes, Eric Manaka, Rachel Wolfson, Compston Wilson, Jeff Tremaine, Dimitry Elyashkevich, Spike Jonze, Alia Shawkat

More than twenty years ago, the first episode of ‘Jackass’ was broadcast. The show in which a bunch of American friends performed the most ridiculous and breakneck stunts became a huge success. Numerous spin-offs and clones resulted from this popularity. After three cinema films(!) there is now a fourth ‘film’ about the antics of front man Johnny Knoxville and his team, after years of radio silence. Nice or mustard after meals?

The answer to the previous question is: both! The surprise is gone and it seems as if creativity has at times given way to shock value. For fifteen minutes you watch a man indulge in all kinds of painful antics in his lower regions (this man makes someone jump on his scrotum with a pogo stick and gives a boxer permission to hit him in the private parts). On the other hand, there are a few downright creative – and hair-raising stunts – in which the male member plays the leading role. After seeing this film you will look differently at bees and Godzilla as a man.

‘Jackass Forever’ is obviously not a real movie in the literal sense of the word. You can think of this as an expensive home video where a bunch of friends are constantly making fun of each other. The love for each other is what makes this film so much fun. The friendship is genuine and you can see that these men have been through a lot with each other. After years of radio silence and a world that has changed a lot since the previous film (‘Jackass 3D’ from 2010), this fourth part comes as a nice surprise.

For an hour and a half you are sent back to an era in which ‘off-the-wall humour’ still had a right to exist and where grown men unashamedly behaved like toddlers. This film is not politically correct. Still, the Jackass crew is moving with the times, as new members have joined (who are likely to pass the torch) including an African American and a woman.

Anyway, if you like the male reproductive system, like clumsy stunts and appreciate your silly laughing men, then ‘Jackass Forever’ is for you. Above all, this is an ode to friendship and the (disturbed) child in yourself.