Knoxville proves being a jackass can pay off

With tomorrow comes the much anticipated and highly publicized jackass the movie. MTV and the guys have taken all the elements that make “jackass” the show a success and made them bigger and better for the big screen.

Leading man Johnny Knoxville recently stopped in Dallas on a crash tour of 10 cities.

The slightly inebriated Knoxville fielded questions from the ‘How do you cope with your new fame?’ variety to the Teenbeat style ‘How does it feel to be a heart throb?’ and still had time to discuss the new film.

Recently his likeness graced the cover of Rolling Stone.

“It’s pretty surreal, you just have to fool yourself and convince yourself it’s all normal,” Knoxville said, “because if you thought about it, it would be overwhelming.”

Talking about the movie, which wasn’t released for previewing purposes, brings excitement to the slightly sobering Knoxville.

“The film is all the stuff we couldn’t show you on the TV series. We have an R rating, we’re not restricted and the boys take full advantage of that,” Knoxville said. “Lot of male nudity. Lot of male touching.”

That could be a relief to some and a turnoff for others.

Still, the “jackass” phenomenon has found a niche audience with mostly males, aged 14 to 24.

Arguably, everyone has a little bit of jackass in them and although it’s impossible for them to act out their jackass behavior, it’s nice to be able to watch others do it.

The project, one of the first reality-based feature films in cinema history, promises to aim higher and stoop lower than the cable-friendly television version.

The director of the film, Jeff Tremaine, describes the movie as a sort of “coming of age film about nine young men who wander the world in search of love and companionship.”

In all actuality, the movie will probably be more along the lines of nine young men wandering the world in search of pranks to pull, gags to get away with and stunts that place them on the edge of injury all for one reason – to get a few laughs.

After MTV’s “Backyard BBQ” preview of the movie with a select group of Hollywood types, multiple viewers reported being on the verge of vomiting from laughing so hard.

Once again this could be a plus for some and a minus for others. But it’s doubtful the film’s target audience would be anything but ecstatic about that fact.