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But when the cameras are on, like their Survivor and Fear Factor brethren, the performers come alive. Among the segments in the film is one in which Knoxville's friends administer paper cuts to the webbing of his feet and hands before submerging them in an aquarium full of rubbing alcohol. In another, Steve-O, who had never walked a tight-rope, walks one over a lake swarming with alligators. (He falls after two steps but somehow avoids getting hurt.) One has Magera, known for traumatizing his father on the show, breaking into the bathroom while his father is on the toilet and beating him up. Today's segment stems from the following idea: Wouldn't it be funny to walk into a sporting-goods store with a buddy, rip open some boxing gloves and have a go at it in the aisle? If you're of a certain gender and age, the answer is a resounding yes!
For the match, Knoxville has flown in the aptly named Butterbean, a 350-lb. professional boxer. Butterbean also seems excited about the prospect of knocking out Knoxville. "This is going to be fun," he says.
"You'll have fun. I don't know what this 'we' stuff is," Knoxville says.
When the two vans of Jackasses arrive at the Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Carson, Calif., to tape the bit, director/co-creator Jeff Tremaine is angry. Despite a prior warning to the owner to keep the taping secret, the place is crawling with teenagers. And because Knoxville is the anti--Carson Daly, the new James Dean for cool kids, he is always bumrushed for autographs, which ruins the sketch because it undermines the whole concept of Jackass: horrifying unsuspecting bystanders. To fix this, the crew went to Japan and Mexico to tape much of the movie, and now Tremaine is bailing on the Big 5 to head up to the Van Nuys Bazaar Swap Meet, which is free of kids.
There, two members of the troupe introduce the fight to the confused shoppers. Butterbean hits Knoxville, sending him down. Knoxville gets up twice before going down for good. As Knoxville falls the third time, his skull catches the corner of a jewelry counter, and blood spurts from his head, creating a growing pool on the carpet. Knoxville, who does not snore, is snoring in his concussion. The set medic runs over and wraps gauze around his head. No one is laughing. In person, this is not funny.
But the Jackass team is pumped. For them, this is like Brando nailing a scene. When Knoxville comes to, they walk him outside the swap meet and prop him up against a wall. "I'm Johnny Knoxville. Come see the movie, and you'll see why I have to get stitches," he says clearly, in what turns out to be his last completely lucid moment of the day. That's when Cindy Mendoza, 15, spots him. "Dude, it's Jackass. Dude, I watch your show every night at 10. How come you didn't bring Steve-O? Dude."
Back in the van, on the way to the hospital, Knoxville asks for his robe. "I'm freezing," Knoxville says, shivering. "Did we get the shot?" At the hospital Knoxville is questioned by a nurse, and spouts his well-memorized insurance information. Director of photography Dimitry Elyashkevich tapes all of this. But after the doctor tells Knoxville that he can't film the procedure, Elyashkevich says, "We're taking our gash elsewhere."