Jackass Number Two

The folks who will flock to see Jackass: Number Two are probably not the kind who will read the reviews of the movie. On the other hand, the folks who have absolutely no intention of seeing it probably are. The critics do manage to give it a gruding respect, sort of... The problem is that so scenes in the movie are so grossly obscene that most of the critics for "family newspapers" can't even describe them. As Gene Seymour writes in Newsday: "You're dying to hear about the gags involving body hair, fecal matter and horses, aren't you? Oh, look, we're running out of space! Some other time." Jessica Reaves in the Chicago Tribune begins her review by remarking, "Quite honestly, I don't know what to say about Jackass: Number Two." Nathan Lee in the New York Times pretends to approach the movie as if he were an art critic reviewing an obscene modern art exhibition: "At the root of the "Jackass" project is an impulse to deny the superego and approach the universe, with all its hard edges and shark-infested waters, as an enormous, undifferentiated playpen. That, and the impulse to watch a 400-pound woman belly-flop on top of a midget. The Surrealists would have loved these guys, and relished the film's signature image: the application of a leech to the surface of an eyeball." Kyle Smith in the New York Post does give readers a hint of what appears in the movie: "You probably know by this stage of your life whether you'd like to see a man place a sock on something that rhymes with sock and introduce both into a snake's den. But even if you find that funny (hell, I do), you probably don't need to see a beer enema or several vomit scenes, one resulting from a turn in the 'fart mask.'" Roger Moore in the Orlando Sentinel reluctantly acknowledges that he let out a "painful laugh" at some of the set ups, then thought, "I am so ashamed of myself." He adds, "What, exactly, does a movie ratings board have to see to give a studio picture an NC-17 rating? Granted, this is adolescent humor, in the extreme. But watching people defecate on camera should be an automatic." And Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe echoes: "It's a miracle that the MPAA let Number Two off with a mere R."