Review: jackass number two

UK release date: 24th November

Fans of the MTV-spawned Jackass series will be delighted to hear that actor Johnny Knoxville and his daredevil pals haven’t calmed down with age. Instead, they’ve become even wilder since 2002’s feature-length Jackass: the Movie, hilariously raising the stakes for bad taste stunts and pranks with this superior and more darkly imaginative sequel.

The sick-puppy laughs come thick and fast as the adrenaline junkies combine agonising tests of human endurance with moments of utter grossness and juvenile stupidity. Whether it’s danger man Steve-O being used as live shark bait or The Ringer star Knoxville riding a giant rocket, this random procession of often life-threatening skits is a wince-inducing testament to just how far some people will go to amuse others.

Ultimately, if you didn’t get the concept before, you certainly won’t get it now, but if car-crash entertainment is your idea of fun, then this strictly adults-only film is hard to beat.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 18
Running time 92mins

Review by Slaon Freer

Review: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

UK Release: 2nd November 2006

For those unfamiliar with Borat, he is a leading Kazakhstani journalist who, for this project, travels America learning about its culture. He is also a complete fabrication, the work of Ali G creator Sacha Baron Cohen.

Thus his scatological but hilarious investigation includes a scene in which he attends a posh dinner party and returns from the bathroom with his excrement in a plastic bag and presents it to the hostess. He also destroys a Civil War memorabilia shop and lets loose a chicken on the New York subway.

A minor niggle is that close examination shows that at least a handful of the sequences might have been set up to some degree. And in cinematic terms it is absolutely nothing special: there’s no real reason for it to be a movie at all — its natural home may well be on DVD. But as an example of a comedian willing to take absurd risks for his art, it’s probably never going to be surpassed.

Radio Times rating:

****

UK cinema certificate 15
Running time 83mins

Review by Adam Smith

Review: Zidane: a 21st Century Portrait

UK release: 29th September 2006

Following the lead of Hellmuth Costard’s 1971 study of George Best, Football like Never Before, this audacious documentary tracks Zinédine Zidane for the duration of a La Liga game between Real Madrid and Villareal in April 2005.

Technically, the film draws attention to itself far too often, with its tricksy shifts between camera angles and distances. But, as a study in sporting concentration and an avant-garde experiment in spatial disorientation, it’s as compelling as it is impressive. Particularly striking is the unswerving intensity that seems to isolate Zidane from his team-mates, as he rarely calls for the ball or issues instructions throughout the match. Indeed, he remains emotionless — apart from a grin at Roberto Carlos just before joining the goalmouth mêlée that results in him being sent off.

Revealing the flaws as well as the genius, this is clearly a portrait of an artist at work.

Radio Times rating:

****

UK cinema certificate PG
Running time 95mins

Review by David Parkinson