Fans of the MTV series that birthed this cinematic experience probably knew exactly what they were expecting when they walked into the theater. The real surprise is that Jackass: The Movie may provoke belly laughs even from viewers who have long since outgrown the music channel's young demographic. The obnoxiousness of the participants' adolescent humor and the nauseous and/or violent nature of their pranks will probably never endear the film to high-minded members of any gender, class or social enclave. But the simple truth is that these random stunts and absurdist provocations are just about the most inventive humor to grace the screen in your typical megaplex in quite some time. Audiences who can't see the joke in attaching a bottle rocket to one's genitals, engaging in golf-cart and rental-car terrorism, or allowing an unsuspecting doctor to x-ray the toy crammed into one's posterior orifice may want to stay well away from Jackass: The Movie. If strapped to a chair and forced to watch, however, they may take at least a scientific interest in the preponderance of barely-sublimated xenophobia and homoeroticism displayed by the often half-clothed performers as they harass each other and their international victims. And if, while formulating sociological treatises about such weighty issues, these worthy viewers should happen to emit a chuckle or two, why, it doesn't necessarily signal the end of Western civilization. So what's the take-home message for both teen fans and adult initiates? Given the omnipresent banality of reality TV, it's just nice to see real people doing something a little less commonplace than grubbing for money, succumbing to sexual temptation or going postal on their cohabitants.