MTV's jackasses go for broke

Let's get something straight before we do anything else: "Jackass: The Movie" isn't a narrative film. In fact, while it might be its most suitable categorization, to call it a documentary is even a stretch.\nQuite simply, "Jackass: The Movie" is just an 80-minute version of its parent MTV show or, more precisely, a version of the show that follows only in its format, theme and cast. You see, the insane stuntmen man-boy jackasses knew what medium they were dealing with this time, and in what they refer to as the grand finale of their now-cancelled TV show, they pull out all the stops, let it all hang out (often quite literally) and subsequently leave the audience somewhere between stunned nausea and tearful hysteria. \nFor those of you who aren't familiar with the "Jackass" concept, it basically boils down to this: a group of stuntmen, skateboarders and daredevils, all with seemingly insatiable penchants for pain, poop and beer, run around city streets and hotel rooms filming each other performing outrageous stunts, practical jokes and revolting acts of recklessness. That's it. They take the footage, give each segment a title (i.e. "Off-road tattooing" or "Panda attack"), edit it together, and turn it into one of the most side-splitting theater experiences I've had in some time. \n"Jackass" is as unabashedly far from high-brow entertainment as you can imagine, and going into this movie it is necessary to keep that in mind. Certainly the marriage of shock-value and nether-regions of slapstick is not a treat for everyone (I'm not kidding when I warn you that this movie really works the gag reflex).\nIf you hated the show, you'll hate the movie -- there is no doubt about that. Some may be outright appalled by everything "Jackass" represents and hail it as downfall of popular comedic entertainment, citing snobbish critics and arguing that what these guys do requires little talent or creativity -- but that may be missing the point.\nSure, there is no sense in arguing that they aren't the dumbest SOBs to ever electrocute their "gooch" on the silver screen, but credit should be given where credit is due. "Quality" or not, I laughed my ass off and expect that many of you will too.