OPENS FEBRUARY 28, CERT 18, 85 MINS
Self-harm is the new rock’n’roll. Twenty-five years ago, kids shocked their mums by getting safety pin piercings because Sid Vicious did it. Nowadays, they set themselves on fire because Johnny Knoxville does it. That’s progress of a sort. And this, whether Mummy likes it or not, is one of the funniest films ever made.
There’s nothing remotely clever about it. The production values are non-existent (despite it being produced by Spike Jonze). There’s no witty dialogue (excepting a few laconic asides by Knoxville as he lies dazed and concussed). There’s no plot, no special effects, no purpose and no meaning. There’s also a good chance you’ll find at least one of these three dozen pranks unwatchable, whether it’s the piss sorbet, the paper cuts, the alligator tightrope, the toy car enema or the various points at which Knoxville comes within a hair’s breadth of genuine death. But this dumb, vulgar, offensive, barrel-scraping film makes you laugh until your face hurts and you want to be sick.