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Review: The Foot Fist Way
Filed under: Comedy », New Releases », Theatrical Reviews », New in Theaters »
The Foot Fist Way premiered at Sundance in 2006. I got my hands on a copy about a year ago, and wondered why it never got a big cross-country release. I knew it was a hit among big-time comedy folk (your Stillers, your Apatows, your Oswalts), and I started to figure that maybe they just wanted to keep it to themselves. But with a big push from Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, Foot Fist has found its way into theaters. Shot independently over nineteen days for little money in North Carolina, the film is a character study about a character you'd never want to meet -- Fred Simmons.
Danny McBride plays Simmons, an unbalanced children's Tae Kwon Do instructor who goes completely off the rails when his wife (the very funny Mary Jane Bostic) cheats on him. Fred is obsessed with karate master and low-budget film star Chuck "The Truck" Wallace (Ben Best), and tries to focus his energies on bringing his hero to the school. That's about it for a plot, much of the film consists of quasi-connected short scenes and moments that feel quite a bit like sketches. A genuinely hilarious scene early on involving an elderly woman, for example, is a self-contained jewel (I actually choked on soda watching it), and would be an internet sensation if this film had never existed.
The juxtaposition of a deranged man and young children is a comedy staple going back (at least) to W.C. Fields, but since this is an indie flick, things go darker than you might expect. Simmons is not a likable man, not at all really, and McBride's resistance to give him a big heart makes him feel a lot more authentic than a lot of the "heroes" in major studio comedies today. Sometimes a dick is just a dick.
Kick Back With the Very Funny 'Foot Fist Way' Trailer
Filed under: Comedy », Independent », Paramount Vantage »
I have a very good friend named Erik Childress, and he's a film critic who's pretty darn demanding when it comes to comedies. He doesn't chuckle easily, but when he finds a flick funny -- he's usually right on the mark. So let's flash back to Sundance 2006: I'd gone off to see something else, but when I met up with Childress for lunch, we had our normal conversation: "What'd you see, how was it, etc.?" And I distinctly remember Erik saying, through a mouth full of french fries, "Foot Fist Way. Surprisingly damn funny." I mentally kicked myself for missing it.So now! Over two years later! Courtesy of Paramount Vantage, I bring you the first, the funny, the profanity-laden red-band theatrical trailer for Jody Hill's The Foot Fist Way. And, like Erik said about the movie, the trailer is surprisingly damn funny. If the lead knucklehead looks familiar, then you probably remember his brief-but-colorful moments in All the Real Girls, Hot Rod and The Heartbreak Kid. (His name's Danny R. McBride, by the way, and I'd call him the ONLY funny thing in that Heartbreak Kid remake.)
For those who can't be bothered to check out the clip (or are maybe under 18), the flick's about a really goofy Tae Kwon Do teacher. (Hey, the premise works well -- and often -- enough for Will Ferrell.) May 30 is when Paramount Vantage will unleash The Foot Fist Way, but for now you can feel free to peek through the official site and enjoy the R-rated trailer. ("Meditate on that." = hilarious!)
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