After making over 200 episodes of the hit truTV series Impractical Jokers, the funny foursome known as The Tenderloins—James “Murr” Murray, Brian “Q” Quinn, Joe Gatto, and Sal Vulvano—take their crazy antics to the big screen with their first feature film, Impractical Jokers: The Movie. The film is fresh out of theaters, and fittingly gets an early digital release today, on April Fools Day!

As the film opens, it’s 1994, the night when the the idea for the Impractical Jokers challenges is born. High Schoolers Murr, Q, Joe and Sal (still playing themselves with ridiculous wigs and boy band style haircuts) have a plan to sneak into a Paula Abdul concert. While they do manage to talk their way in, the night doesn’t quite end as planned. Cut to 25 years later, and the guys run into Paula Abdul again. She gives them tickets for her VIP party in Miami, and the Jokers see this as an opportunity for redemption, to fix that mistake they made when they were younger. However, Paula only gave them three tickets, which means someone can’t attend the part. In order to figure out who will have to sit out, the guys decide to compete in a series challenges over the course of their road trip from Staten Island to Miami.

For anyone who has seen the TV series, this aspect of the film will feel quite familiar. There’s even text on the screen announcing the name of each prank or challenge, which include:

• Challenge: “Lost Clause”: Sal becomes a bad mall Santa in middle of summer.
• Challenge: “Bad Eulogy”: The guys have written each other a eulogy to read to strangers as a dry run for a funeral. They have no idea what’s written on the paper until they start to read it, and must get the strangers to approve that it’s appropriate to read at the funeral.
• Joe: “Cave Man”: Joe pretends to be a man who lost his tour group decades earlier and has been stuck in the cave since 1987.
• Challenge: “Get Off My Boat”: The guys each take turns being on a boat with some strangers as it approaches another boat in distress. Each guy must convince the other passengers to say “No” to the person seeing help.
• Sal: “Pets Allowed”: The Jokers lock Sal in his motel room and put his fear of cats to the test.
• Q: “Horse Power”: They Jokers take off in the car, leaving Q a horse and a gladiator costume to find his way back.
• Murr: “Birthday Boy”: The guys bring Murr to a strip club to celebrate his birthday, but he gets an awkward birthday surprise.
• Challenge: “Do I Get The Job”: Each guy interviews for a job with the Atlanta Hawks while the others tell him what to do and say from behind-the-scenes.
• Q: “Anti-Social Network”: Q has to present to a crowd of 600 people at a social media convention, but the guys have created his presentation, which includes some awkward videos of his parents.
• Sal: “Jaden’s #1 Fan”: Sal attends a movie premiere where he is instructed to tell everyone that he’s Jaden Smith’s #1 Fan, and show off the tattoo he got of the star during a previous TV challenge.
• Challenge: “Roadside Asisstance”: The guys take turns getting folks to stop to help with a broken-down car. Each Joker has to try to keep his help there as long as possible while the others give him crazy things to do and say.

Mixed in with these challenges is some fun banter between the guys as they travel from location to location and stay in motels. There is also a running joke about what Murr gets up to at night when the other guys aren’t around, and some of the odd things that happen in his motel rooms are hilarious. For the final 20 minutes or so, the movie is a little more traditional as it gets back to the framing story of Paula’s VIP party. The singer is surprisingly quite funny in her small role—and still has an amazing voice! There’s also another brief cameo from another famous singer.

Fans of the Impractical Jokers TV series will certainly love this film. Several of these challenges had me laughing out loud. Plus, I enjoyed seeing the guys do a bit of acting in the framing story, which was incredibly goofy at times (especially those 1994 wigs!), but also had some moments with heart.

The Digital release of the movie has a pretty solid presentation. The picture looks somewhat clean and detailed, and the audio track provides both clear dialogue and excellent-sounding musical performances from Paula Abdul. Unfortunately this digital release doesn’t include any bonus material. I’m hoping this is simply due to the fact that this received an early digital release, and that some features will be added later on once they are produced for any forthcoming physical release (assuming there is one).

What’s Included:

Film: (1:32:28)
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH
• Movies Anywhere compatible

Extras:

At this time, the digital release does not include any bonus material.

Final Thoughts:

Impractical Jokers: The Movie should be a hit with fans of the TV series as it provides a lot of the same kind of challenges and pranks that make the series so entertaining. For folks who are not a fan of the series, I don’t think this movie is going to change that as the crux of the film follows the same format. The film also includes a fun framing story that gives the Jokers a chance to show off their acting skills. The digital release looks and sounds great, but unfortunately doesn’t include any bonus material at the time of the release. The film had me laughing out loud at the crazy antics, and so I would definitely recommend it, though once the price comes down a bit, or if there is some bonus material added.
(Note: I probably would have given the movie more than 3.5 stars, but after you see it, you’ll know why I did!)