Jackass: Best and Last

by Mike McGranaghan

The Jackass franchise has proven a very important fact: it’s entertaining to watch people do stupid stuff. Why, specifically, is it funny to witness a grown man named Poopies put a shock collar on his penis? I’m not sure words are sufficient to answer that question. What I do know is that, after getting a nasty zap on his genitals, he rips the collar off, announces he’s done with the bit, then immediately agrees to put it back on for several more zaps. That’s where the X-factor lies. When a guy like that willfully signs up for the torment, we’re granted permission to enjoy his displeasure.

The penis shock collar is one of many bits in Jackass: Best and Last that had me in stitches. This fifth installment wraps up the series, and it’s emotional because the guys are mostly in their fifties now, unable to sustain too much more bodily damage. At least they acknowledge middle age. The first new stunt features Steve-O getting a prostate exam from a robot. Not just any robot either. A robot with a condom covered in chunky peanut butter over its finger. The prostate exam I’ll inevitably receive during my urology visit later this summer doesn’t seem so intimidating now.

New bits are mixed with classic ones for this sequel, so we can once again savor the sight of Steve-O being strapped inside a port-a-potty and launched into the air. (Only a big cinema screen can do this stunt justice.) Also included are stunts shot for the Jackass TV show that MTV wouldn’t let them broadcast, including Johnny Knoxville being taped into a cardboard box and pushed down a flight of stairs. Mixing old and new footage gives the movie poignance. The jackasses look like babies in the earlier clips. Knoxville sums it up when he comments to his pals that “it’s been 25 years and we haven’t learned a ***damned thing.”

Thank goodness they haven’t. Best and Last shows the gang can still conceive uproarious bits to get audiences squirming, cracking up, and maybe even gagging. In a true series highlight (or, if you prefer, lowlight), four Jackasses chug glasses of laxatives, then play Twister while wearing see-through pants. It might be advisable to avoid eating snacks during this sequence. We’re also treated to the guys taking part in a torture-filled escape room and confronting an angry ram. They might be older, but they deliver the goods, just as they always have.

Again, this is stuff they want to do. Nobody is forcing them. Even after enduring punishment, they laugh at themselves. Taking pride in their own stupidity makes the jackasses strangely charming. As we see a couple times, the guys truly care about each other, too. When someone gets hurt, the others rally around them to offer care. A short section of the film pays tribute to Ryan Dunn, their cohort who died in a car crash back in 2011. Unlikely as it is to say, the group’s camaraderie is sweet. They’re all in this nonsense together, and we’re invited to be part of it.

If this is indeed the last movie, the series sure goes out with a bang. Jackass: Best and Last provides 92 minutes of nonstop hilarious idiocy, delivered with a smile and a slap in the nuts. Fare thee well, Johnny Knoxville and team, and thank you for suffering for our amusement.

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