Caught this at the discount theater and I gave a shot despite Johnny Knoxville being the star; I don’t find him getting injured doing stupid things entertaining. YouTube and CHIVE have this stuff in spades. Action Park had more going for it than being another chapter in the Jackass series though. It’s more of a reminiscing and/or love letter to the Seventies, the last decade without mandatory seat belts and before anyone realized the potential danger in lawn darts.
The story is told as a flashback by a grandfather (Knoxville in heavy makeup) babysitting his pre-teen granddaughter and him telling her that there was a time when Mom wasn’t such a worry wart. Back in the Seventies, the grandfather operated a low-tech amusement park in California. Kids and teens from the area came all Summer long to enjoy the waterslides, ride the sleds, etc. Looking at the attractions, I felt like I needed a tetanus shot just to watch. Every Summer, Mom stayed with Grandpa (as per the terms of the divorce) and helped operate the park with the other eccentric staffers, half of which were high. The Summer we get to watch is rather special: Mom is now a teenager both physically, mentally and emotionally, not a little kid; plus a real, modern and safe amusement park (a parody of Six Flags) has opened nearby. Action Park owing the local bank thousands of dollars doesn’t help because a local real estate guy wants Grandpa’s deed on the land the park resides on.
This being a Knoxville movie involving cringe-worthy stunts, his Grandpa character decides the only way to compete and beat “Six Flags” is to remove the safeguards, make his place for adrenaline junkies. Today, he would be creating a lawsuit magnet and probably arrested on manslaughter charges. His decision does succeed because Action borrows from the “Slobs v. Snobs” playbook my generation knows from Meatballs and Caddyshack. Is it funny? Here and there. Is it entertaining? More than Jackass or FAIL Army online. I do admit to having a soft spot for the film though. Action shares some DNA with Anchorman in how it shows little details about what used to be normal, before they became (rightfully) verboten: drinking hard liquor with your lunch, Grandpa always has a can of beer (Schlitz) in one hand whenever he’s awake, people bumping/crashing the go-carts into each other (I guarantee you’ll get kicked out at Austin’s Pizza Park for trying), no helmets or other safety gear. It’s amazing the death toll wasn’t higher when I was a kid in the Seventies.
However, is it a good movie to watch? If you’re a fan of Jackass and other crazy slapstick, Action Point will deliver as you sit through the narrative. Everyone else…I would say go for it but remember by previous caveats. For me, I enjoyed looking over the details in how they tried to recreate the waning days of the Seventies.
I do want to close with one last thing. Action Point may be a movie yet is loosely based upon something real and it wasn’t shut down until 1996.