Haggard - RIP Ryan Dunn

Ryan Dunn died this morning. I first heard about it on Twitter and then through other news outlets, giving details on the car crash that took the actors life. I use actor loosley here because it never seemed like Dunn was acting. No matter what he was doing- sticking toy cars up his ass in Jackass, beating off to his own ass in Haggard, getting an oversized needle shoved into his disease-filled dick in Minghags- he always looked like he was completely natural and enjoying every gross, disturbing and, overall, funny second of it.

I don't usually get phased by celebrity deaths, but this one really got to me. I've been watching Dunn screw around since I was in high school, maybe even before that. Starting with the CKY tapes and moving on to MTV's Jackass, I was with Dunn and those crazy fuckers from West Chester through it all. He returned for the Bam Margera shows on MTV like Viva la Bam, Bam's Unholy Union, and the Bam feature Where the F*** is Santa?. This is one instance where I feel like I lost a friend, because I've been watching these assholes for half my life, maybe even more than that.

That brings me to the main point of this article- Haggard: The Movie. What can I say about this movie that it doesn't say for itself? It's certainly a great comedy, but I think the main reason I enjoyed it so much was because it had all the guys from the CKY tapes, all our favorites, with an actual scripted plot. I wanted it to be successful because I enjoyed their previous stuff so much, and I like to think that it was.

The plot is basically a story from Dunn's life ("After this, let's pick one of the other thousand God damn depressing stories from my life to make into a movie," Dunn said in the behind the scenes for Haggard, which is frightening given the current circumstances). Dunn dated a girl named Glauren (played here by Bam's ex-girlfriend Jenn Rivell) who slept around a lot ("Yeah, but it's not like she's getting eaten out on stage for 311 tickets...") and the movie follows their horrible break-up from the perspective of Dunn and his friends Valo (Margera) and Falcone (Brandon DiCamillo). Dunn's life is going to shit and he tries (both successfully and horribly unsuccessfully) to get his friends to help get her back/get revenge on her.

Some of the jokes were completely over the top (Naked Dave giving Valo love advice, Phil Margera smashing a watermelon on Dunn's head, Don Vito dressed like Julias Ceaser... the list goes on), but it was nothing unexpected from the cast; the CKY crew knew how to deliver and keep the auidence entertained, and they didnt let down with this movie.

I can honeslty quote just about every line from this movie, that's how many times I've seen it. Cast and plot aside, the movie is extremely funny (Falcone shits into Glaurens gas tank to get back at her for Dunn- who fucking does that?), the soundtrack is peppered with great bands like HIM, CKY, Iggy Pop, New Order and Clutch, and the producer/cinematographer, Joseph Frantz, was magic behind the camera. The film was shot and edited so well that it's a shame that it doesnt get more credit for just that and not the humor/cast.

I don't want to drag this out anyfurther so I'll end with saying this: if I'M bummed out by Ryan's death, I can only imagine what his family and friends are going through, especially Bam Margera. And not to mention the friends and family of the passenger of his car at the time of the accident- people havn't been commenting that there were two people in the car. I hope some good comes from this tragedy, but if the rumors are true about the accident (booze, speeding, etc.), it will be another pair of lives taken too early from a dumb decision.

For me, saying Ryan Dunn will be missed is an understatement. Jackass and the CKY crew just won't be the same without Random Hero.