The Foot Fist Way

This is the type of movie that gets funnier each time you watch it, just like The Big Lebowski. It takes a while to get a feel for the level of realism (a bit more serious than Napoleon Dynamite), but when you're finally tuned in to the wavelength of the makers, you can almost instantly re-watch it (which will not take up too much time because it's refreshingly short). Once you know the characters are a bit silly, but not trying to generate cheap laughs or thrills (it must have been tempting to let Mr. Simmons totally snap, or have an all out brawl at the hotel room party, or let Mrs. Simmons show some more skin), the story becomes remarkably solid.

I came to this movie with talk of it being hilarious, brilliant and having apparently been the toast of Sundance. I didn't totally believe all the hype, mainly because that's always what the majority of such talk is, but I did have hopes that the film would be good at what it tries to do. Taking its lead from the painfully flawed David Brent in The Office, The Foot Fist Way focuses on taekwondo teacher Fred Simmons as he leads his class to be (perhaps) as good as him, fails to control his cheating wife and idolises taekwondo champion and film star Chuck "the truck" Wallace. In terms of narrative flow there isn't really much that justifies discussion because, rightly, the story is only a frame within which to put the character study of an arrogant man who has zero self-awareness. In this there is a lot of potential and accordingly the best parts of the film are not specific events or plot points but just little moments that remind the viewer what a self-important and embarrassingly pompous man we are watching.

It is not something you'll never have seen before of course and the many other variations will show you how painfully funny (and painfully painful) that this sort of thing can be, whether it is Spinal Tap or David Brent. Problem is with the Foot Fist Way is that it feels like a really good idea that has not been fully carried out. So there are moments which are both painful and funny but then there are also lots of scenes that are just surprisingly straightforward, failing to either be funny or to be insightful in regards the character of Fred. It is a shame but it does mean that the film is distinctly average. Even at a short running time of 83 minutes, the film still struggles and surprised me by feeling much longer – it should have sprinted and been over before you knew what was happening.

No fault to McBride though, he feels natural and is convincing in his character. As one of those involved in the writing he does share some responsibility though because the script just doesn't give him enough to work with often enough. He is the whole film though and when he has the material then it is at its best. Bostic is a good "white-trash" cliché but is surprisingly wooden for the majority. Best's turn is funny and produces some narrative drive but also has the detrimental effect of jostling for time with the comedy character study which I thought the film should have stuck with. The style of delivery could have been different and, although some say it is overused, I think the "making a documentary" approach would have worked in the favour of the material as we have seen countless other times.

I wanted to really like this film because you can see the potential but sadly it is never fully realised. This doesn't make for a terrible film though and it does still have its moments where things work but mostly I felt like it was a big case of "close but no cigar" in regards the script and the delivery. It is OK and perhaps worth a look on television but there are much better versions of the same idea out there, many of which leave this film looking distinctively average.

Offensive. Bad. So terrible they landed 4 seasons of Eastbound and Down on HBO.

Too much profanity. Girlfriend not hot enough. Not enough acting.

It's not like its their first project (oh, wait, was it?). Why give these Hollywood types (oh wait, are they?) the time of day or more money to make another (oh wait...)

It's not like the lead, McBride, is one of 2 or 3 writers on this show and the other (oh wait...)

I've read some positive comments about how people have run into this sort of martial arts instructor in real life. So, their research on the character isn't terrible.

All the very bad reviews here show why most can't see past the flaws, to what a brand-new team doing something very original is capable of.

Thankfully bad reviews are a dime a dozen and sometimes aren't enough to kill other projects.

Its 2 thousand fifteen, people. A bad indie comedy isn't a tragedy, and a first project can be treated with a bit more kindness.

"The Foot Fist Way" is the second Jody Hill movie I've watched. The first was "Observe and Report" with Seth Rogen which was released in 2009. I'm noticing that the Jody Hill formula is to make comedies dressed as dramas, so there will be no audio or visual cues to laugh. The actors' faces, voices, and movements won't cue you that this is a joke, simply the dialog and perhaps the absurdity of the situation. It's a unique style that isn't going to have you rolling on the floor laughing.

In TFFW Danny McBride played Fred Simmons, a Taekwondo instructor in North Carolina. He is a joke of an instructor with a super hot wife and a super hot car. Danny McBride consumes about 80% of the screen time, so the movie truly hinges upon him. His wife Suzie (Mary Jane Bostic) and his idol Chuck "The Truck" Wallace (Ben Best) have the next greatest share of screen time and it's not that much.

This movie had two very funny scenes which carried it. The rest of the movie kept a steady pace although it didn't register highly on the funny scale.

I like The foot fist way very much. The reason for this is simple; it's very realistic and human-like. Normally all movies are cool slick Hollywood movies. Where everybody is perfect, and the good guy always gets the beautiful girl in the end and every fight scene lasts 20 minutes,....well not in my life.

The main character of The Foot Fist Way is actually very easy to recognize in the first place. Many people ARE like him, and many people probably can identify with the main character. I know I can. Hell, maybe people say I'm a loser for admitting this, but I know my life more resembles 'the foot fist way' than it does 'Casino Royale' or 'Die Hard'.

I practice karate, and although this movie is about Tea Kwon Do (these sports are very similar), I can tell you that the exaggerations are real. And there are people out there that are made off no more than hot air.

Anyway, the 'crappy' filming makes this movie almost a documentary. And the fact that the actors are so simple, and not famous is very refreshing. I like real life, and I like movies that represent real-life. The Hollywood fairy tales are awful, in my opinion. The pace of the movie is good, and I thought is was short....I was really entertained. And real martial arts isn't as spectacular as we get to see in Hollywood movies, its as crappy as presented in this film. (in the sense of 'normal' people that practice martial arts).

In my opinion the producers were successful in creating a funny movie about things in life we all can relate to.