Hobbling my way to the screening theatre, hands burning on the crutches supporting my weight, I thought to myself how Johnny Knoxville and his merry band of idiots were going to have a hard time impressing me.

Having seen what these self-confessed Jackasses were capable of, I had a pretty good idea what to expect.

But no amount of research, be it watching the show on TV or sustaining injuries of your own, could possibly prepare you for the mindless hilarity on offer in this "motion picture".

OK so my freakishly fat foot didn't come about by pole-vaulting off a bridge, or by purposefully and repeatedly crashing golf buggies into giant mannequins - but I felt a sense of belonging nonetheless, as if I deserved to be there.

In an attempt to make people laugh, this happy-go-lucky crew of clowns risked their lives in a series of dangerous and disturbing stunts just for the fun of it.

It made me realise why everyone had been smiling at me or joking about the size of my badly misshapen ankle.

Perhaps it was in order to make me feel better but I couldn't help thinking it was more to do with my comical appearance.

Imagine, if you can, a red-faced youth with sweat covering both his brow and his T-shirt dragging what looked like a bargain bucket from KFC behind him.

Strange that the notion of pain and suffering causes so many to laugh or joke, but this is exactly what makes Jackass work.

Fans of the MTV reality show - which sees 'highly-trained professionals', as they'd like to be called, follow one stupid prank with another - won't need telling that they'll enjoy this movie.

What I found surprising was that a more mature audience than the obviously targeted teenagers and twenty-somethings were caught laughing just as hard as the youngsters.

Dominic Bloch