This is a movie based on a TV show that I have only seen a few times.  I have never been a big fan of the show, but I have a friend who loves the show.

This film is a blend between a scripted plot and the TV show, where the four “Impractical Jokers,” Joe Gatto, James Murray, Brian Quinn and Sal Vulcano, set up a situation where one of them go into a public place and act silly or ridiculous as the one gets lines fed to him by the other three to make it worse.

We see a flashback to the early nineties and the four guys, in high school, have a terrible night after sneaking into a Paula Abdul concert.  Decades later, they run into Paula again, but she does not recognize the group as the troublemakers from all those years ago.  She recognizes them as The Impractical Jokers and invite them to a party in Miami.  However, she accidentally only gives them three passes.  The four decide to have hidden camera “jokes” as they do on their show and the loser of them misses the show.

The movie is kind of dumb.  The written story that surrounds the skits is about as dumb as it can get.

However, the skits on the road, which are much like the TV show, actually made me laugh several times.  This looked to be done with real people along the way who are unaware that they are being filmed and that these guys are acting.  I have to say, there are a couple of times that the looks on the faces of the real people make me think that they are either playing along or have figured out what is going on.  The gimmick works best when the people do not know what is happening and they have that WTF expression on their face.

There was a really fun bit with a job interview situation, maybe the best of the skits.

So there are really two parts to this film.  One that does not work at all and is pretty dumb, and one part that has some really funny moments and is pretty dumb.  As I have said before, funny helps cover weaknesses of films.  This film is not an exception.

Fans of the TV show should enjoy this.  I am not a fan of the show, but there were some funny bits of the show.  The four guys certainly have a loose and comfortable friendship that creates a positive tone.  I have seen worse comedies.

2.5 stars