Mix the bone crushing stunts of Jackass, the hidden camera windups of Sacha Baron Cohen, and mix in a little heart, and you have Bad Grandpa. After his wife dies, 86-year-old Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville)—with an impressive makeup job that has been nominated for an Academy Award—is a happy man. After decades of marriage, he’s finally free to hit on as many ladies as possible, and indulge in his preference for black women. Unfortunately, his joy is short-lived when Irving’s daughter informs her father that she’s about to be sent to prison for a drug charge, requiring the old man to transport grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll) to  Raleigh, North Carolina where is father, excited about the $600 government check he’ll receive for taking his son, awaits. As they travel across country, a series of Jackass style pranks take place.

As a secondary plot, Irving decides to take the body of his deceased wife with them, keeping her corpse in the trunk of his beat up Lincoln until he can find a suitable place to dispose of her. Of course, this makes for additional shenanigans involving the body. In the midst of this, Irving teaches his grandson how to pick up girls, steal, and cause mayhem. As the trip progresses, it’s clear that the two are developing a real bond. In the end, will Irving be able to leave Billy in the care of his irresponsible parent or will his conscience force him to demand custody of his grandson?

The plot of Bad Grandpa is simplistic, but offers a nice break from the usual Jackass antics that have grown a little stale. It’s nice to see Johnny Knoxville trying to do something under the Jackass banner that has some structure, no matter how loose. The structure gives a little more weight to the characters as well as the skits. The humor is situational, instead of forced, which adds a degree of credibility to Bad Grandpa that three original Jackass films never established.

Johnny Knoxville still brings his penchant for being tasteless with him—poop and fart jokes do pop up—but there’s no denying he knows how to sell a joke, and the makeup job makes him a convincing old. More surprisingly, he makes the bond with his grandson believable. Young Jackson Nicoll does a great job keeping pace with the mayhem.

This release includes an unrated cut of the film that runs 11 minutes longer, which features a pair of new scenes (neither of which adds much) and extensions (some very minor) of five other segments. Nothing is worthy of the unrated label (outside of the fact that this version is actually not rated by the MPAA).

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio, is rather lackluster. This isn’t surprising, considering some of the film was shot in HD, while other parts were taken with non-HD hidden cameras. Much of it is rather soft, and full of noise. When the cameras don’t need to be out of sight, the image is noticeably sharper and brighter.

Much like the video, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio is nothing stunning. Voices are fairly clear through the fronts and center. The music and occasional sound effects get a nice pickup from the surrounds.

English, English SDH, French, Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles are included.

The following extras are available:

  • Behind the Scenes (HD) Short behind-the-scene looks at how the cast and crew set up several key scenes and shows reactions from the real people who appear in the film. Included are The Funeral (3:07), Estate Sale (4:43), Window Launch (4:23), Shipping Billy (4:42), The Penguin (2:27), Wedding Crashers (3:32), The Drop Off (4:28), and Beauty Pageant (7:20).
  • Alternate Reactions (HD) Meet Billy (5:43), Meet Irving (3:00), The Skype Call (4:15), Billy Shops for Parents (1:47), Irving Hits on Women 1 (3:10), and Irving Hits on Women 2 (1:54).
  • Deleted Scenes (HD) Street Magician (2:40), Chair Kick (1:39), and Shopping Cart (1:49).
  • DVD Copy.
  • Digital Copy: UV and iTunes included.