The Art of Self-Defense

"The Art of Self Defense" follows a wimp accountant who is attacked and enlists in a Karate school. Jesse Eisenberg is made to play main role giving the character depth and nuance as he travels an arc of change from quiet, frightened, neurotic accountant to self-assured fighter. Movie, in general, tackles some pretty heavy, socially-relevant topics, most notably male/female masculinity. The film is little bit inconsistent, but the overall morbid, bleak tone keeps it relevant in today's admittedly violent culture. It means also that the film's tone certainly won't work for everyone, because it will polarize audiences, but viewers accustomed to finding laughs in the darkest corners will have a great time.

RATING: 6. Be aware, this movie is not for everyone.

I saw this gem at a recent film festival. This is why I go to see movies - something original, something "real," and something important. I didn't find it preachy at all, actually I thought it got it's point across in the best way possible - by being funny and entertaining. The movie starts off by grabbing your attention with how weak of a character Casey is, and how cruel his world is. His world is unrealistically desolate and lonely. But the way he rises out of it is why the movie goes from boring Wes Anderson fantasy to kick-ass Fight Club absurdity. Yes, there are absurd moments but they are completely consistent with the theme of the movie. A theme that needs to be shown again and again in cinema. I won't explicitly state it, but it is the reason this movie goes from average to great, albeit 45 minutes in. A little more gruesome than I'm used to, but I still enjoyed it.

Now, I'm not into artsy clever films. I normally like stuff with some action or drama. The only reason I watched this was that I was looking for a film to watch on a Sunday night rather than just another series.

It definitely has that low budget feel and almost film student look about it, but for some reason I was dragged along with it. It's definitely a bit different, dark and a bit clever. You think you know where it's going - and it does go there, but has a bunch of other directions that you didn't see coming. Some might argue that it's a bit random - like someone had a bunch of ideas, but only one film so they mashed them altogether. Either way, for me, it worked.

It's not going to appeal to everyone and this is evident by the reviews. Give it a try. It's certainly different to the usual copycat rubbish.

This film tells the story of a man who learns karate for self defense.

The film starts off quite innocent, but soon descends into morbid darkness which I have not expected. It is so dark that I worry it might give karate a bad name! It is disturbing, but engaging as well.

Not a Oscar-winning piece, but a very entertaining dark comedy around the trope of the peaceful/wimp character turned badass. Jesse Eisenberg portrays the perfect wimp, and the whole cast is actually pretty good.