With the new Jackass film slated to release in the coming weeks, Knoxville fans are likely watching and re-watching the previous films in anticipation. It’s important to note, however, that Knoxville has appeared in many films other than his flagship series over the years. With over fifty acting credits to his name, the industry mainstay has made his mark on many different genres. Here are the best Johnny Knoxville movies that don’t have anything to do with the Jackass series.
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The 1997 science-fiction/comedy film Men in Black is a cultural phenomenon. The endlessly quotable dialogue, relatable characters, killer soundtrack, and breezy performances helped to make it one of the most re-watchable movies of the past 25 years. Grossing nearly $600 million on a $90 million budget, it should come as no surprise that three sequels and numerous other properties followed the original. While none of those surpassed the first’s charm and originality, some of them are underrated gems.
Men in Black II, which came five years after Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black, is widely considered a major disappointment, especially when compared to the first. A relative rehash of the first’s story, this one follow’s Will Smith’s “Agent J” as he has to reintegrate Jones’ “Agent K” after his brain was wiped at the end of the previous film. Of course, there’s also a nasty villain that shows up to put a hitch in things. That’s where Johnny Knoxville comes in.
As “Scrad/Charlie,” an alien with one normal-sized and one miniature head, Johnny Knoxville perfectly fills the spot of the comic relief here. However, when a movie is mostly comic relief for all of its 88-minute runtime, it can be easy to lose an actor in the shuffle. While the film is undoubtedly nowhere near as good as the first, it’s a passable sequel that has some huge belly laughs. Knoxville is in top form here as the main baddie’s sidekick, and each time he’s on-screen, we’re reminded of his off-kilter persona and ability to wring laughs out of… honestly not much. Come to MIB II for Smith and Jones, but stay for Knoxville.
Long before Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Fast and Furious days, there was this forgotten action remake from 2004. Starring as “Chris Vaughn,” an honorably discharged special forces operator, Johnson shows glimpses of what would become his increasingly bankable personality. He’s no less than a six-foot-five-inch brick wall of toughness and inscrutability, and it’s awesome. While this Walking Tall remake isn’t quite as good as the 1973 classic, it’s a fun action/thriller with some good performances.
Chief among these good performances is Johnny Knoxville as Johnson’s best friend and confidante “Ray Templeton.” He’s basically playing himself here as a squirmy, smarmy dude that wants to do as little as possible to get by. When he’s caught up in “Vaughn’s” dangerous escapades, however, he must leap into action and help his friend protect the city they call home. While the two characters are great friends, their dynamic changes somewhat once Johnson’s character begins to give “Templeton” more leeway in the law.
By letting Knoxville riff and smirk his way through his scenes while Johnson exudes stoicism close by, Walking Tall makes magic when the duo is together. While the film itself isn’t too special on its own, the scenes that Dwayne Johnson and Johnny Knoxville share makes one yearn for a buddy franchise with these two as the leads. Walking Tall is a brisk and ultimately not-too-memorable slice of American justice, but what pushes it over the line into recommendation territory is the way that The Rock and Knoxville’s respective chemistry’s play off of one another’s.
This low-budget indie film, directed by David Caffrey, was something of a festival darling upon release. Playing at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004, Knoxville earned the best reviews of his career. The movie, based on a true story, follows Knoxville’s “Phil Kaufman” as he steals the body of Gram Parsons because of a promise the former made to the latter before his death.
A meandering and tonally inconsistent film, Grand Theft Parsons is nonetheless a gem of a film because of its erratic cast. Featuring Christina Applegate, Michael Shannon, Gabriel Macht, and Robert Forster, each scene in Parsons brings another interesting performance from another interesting performer. A sort-of chase film, “Kaufman” is pursued by Parson’s ex-girlfiend, father, and police, Parsons is an agreeable film that carries a weight equal to more than the sum of its parts.
Knoxville leads the film with aplomb, and American audiences were able to see for the first time the acting chops the film’s leading man possesses in addition to his daredevil tendencies. Running the gamut of emotions from sadness to joy to anger, it’s an acting exercise that Knoxville aces. While the film is hard to find, Knoxville fans would do well to seek out Grand Theft Parsons.
While what he does to his body is undoubtedly terrifying, Knoxville had yet to star in a horror film by the time 2019 rolled around. We Summon the Darkness, released on the festival circuit in 2019 and then on VOD in 2020, gave Knoxville the chance to play a megalomaniacal preacher with plenty of minions under his belt. While seeing Knoxville play a member of the holy tribe is at first laughable, he’s able to convey a sense of menace and unpredictability that make his brief appearance in this film more than worth the price of admission.
The plot of We Summon the Darkness follows Alexandra Daddario’s “Alexis Butler” and two friends as they try to evade a religious cult bent on murder. While the story seems familiar at first, a few nifty twists and turns make the film more effective than the normal VOD horror fare. Daddario proves herself a worthy scream queen here, and her surrounding cast, which includes Keean Johnson, Maddie Hasson, Austin Swift, and Logan Miller, are more than up for the task.
As previously mentioned, Knoxville’s “John Henry Butler” doesn’t appear until relatively late in the film. His onscreen absence only serves to elevate the time he does have in the spotlight, however. As his speechifying becomes less and less tongue in cheek, the actor transforms into something he’s never been before… an effective villain. We Summon the Darkness is a horror/comedy, full stop, but Knoxville helps supply it with an edge that might be hard to shake off.
Part of an Arnold Schwarzenegger career renaissance, The Last Stand joins the ranks of Escape Plan, Sabotage, Maggie, and Aftermath as some reasonably effective late-career turns by Schwarzenegger. This, the first leading role for the Austrian boulder since 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, is one of the more enjoyable films the star has released since the 80’s. As Ray Owens, a small town cop reluctant to jump into action after a drug cartel invades the city, Schwarzenegger shines. As Lewis Dinkum, a weapons collector that must join forces with Sheriff Owens, Knoxville is even better.
As a man obsessed with firearms that has the opportunity to shoot as many bad guys as he wants, Knoxville is back in Walking Tall form here. Needless to say, it works. Playing off of stone-faced Schwarzenegger has been many actors’ bread and butter for forty years, and Knoxville unsurprisingly knocks the role out of the park. The film, which made only $48 million off of a $45 million budget, deserves a re-evaluation. At a time when movies like The Hitman’s Bodyguard are getting sequels, The Last Stand may have been ahead of its time.
With a supporting cast including Forest Whitaker, Jaimie Alexander, Peter Stormare, and the incomparable Luis Guzmán, Schwarzenegger and Knoxville aren’t the only pleasures to be had in this Kim Jee-woon directed action flick. With a straightforward plot, disposable bad guys, and about a million bullets, The Last Stand is a perfect showcase for Knoxville’s trademark crooked and rugged swagger. One of the last best films Schwarzenegger has put out in decades, fans of loud action and tongue-in-cheek humor might stand up for this one.
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