The Foot Fist Way

Starring Danny R. McBride, Mary Jane Bostic, and Ben Best
Directed by Jody Hill
Rated R

This movie is post-Napoleon in a few ways: Its hero is unlikely and unattractive, it glamorizes bad martial arts, and its filmmaking style is, shall we say, economical. None of that means it's a bad movie, and in fact, it's something of a pleasant surprise.

Tae Kwon Do instructor Fred Simmons (Danny McBride) is struggling to recruit new students to his academy, and he's facing struggles as home, as well. His wife (Mary Jane Bostic) has just started a new job, and it appears she's pretty popular with the guys in the office, especially around the copy machine.

Fred's battle to regain control of his life is the heartbeat of The Foot Fist Way, and despite its obvious moments of poor acting and some of the byproducts of making an extremely low budget movie, Fred Simmons is reason enough to watch this film, and Danny McBride does a good job leaving something inside that Fred never wants revealed.

Clearly, this is a character that has struggled with his self-esteem and his wife's affair triggers a lot of old fears. I know this doesn't sound too funny and we are talking about a comedy, and to their credit, writer Ben Best and director Jody Hill know enough to let the story take over and bring the laughs back when they're appropriate.

The story moves at the right pace, the laughs are big enough when they need to be, and the filmmakers don't purposely try to make The Foot Fist Way come across as cheap or too expensive. It's the right look and the right sound - the right tone all the way around, in fact - for the story they're telling. That's a valuable lesson for anybody with a camera, no money, and some old throwing stars.