Movie review: 'Jackass: Number Two'

Last update: September 21, 2006 - 6:02 PM

Since the first Cro-Magnon hit his pal on the head with a rock and chuckled, physical pain and slapstick humor have been inseparable. Johnny Knoxville and his masochistic pals advance that classic formula with such high-tech stunts as the Taser Toss, the Rocket Powered Shopping Cart Ride, the Backdoor Beer Bong and the Mini Electric Chair, as well as various gross-outs involving stallions and snakes that will fuel your nightmares for months.

There's a certain fascination to watching the crew subject themselves to pathological levels of suffering for our amusement, pushing the furthest boundaries of vicarious shock. It's "The Three Stooges meet the Marquis de Sade," with the added sick excitement of knowing you could witness a Steve Irwin stunt catastrophe at any moment. Whether you laugh, shriek or fight the urge to puke reveals as much about you as years of psychotherapy.

COLIN COVERT