The Foot Fist Way

In the slew of crude, mostly-unintelligent comedies that have been released in the last few years (e.g., Pineapple Express, Observe and Report), Danny McBride’s small, usually-random performances are consistently the greatest laugh-inducing moments for me. I would almost go so far as to say that he is the redeeming factor in these movies, but that might be a little excessive praise.

This high view of Danny McBride’s comedic abilities consequently led me to high expectations for The Foot Fist Way, a film in which he plays the lead role as an inept Tae Kwon Do instructor. Unfortunately, as funny as the concept sounded, the execution was terrible. I now understand why McBride is usually confined to bit roles; alas, it seems he is unable to carry a movie on his own acting and comedic skills. Of course, it didn’t help that there were zero supporting actors in the first half of the movie that could play off McBride’s humor, or even add any laughs of their own. It was also unfortunate that most of the acting in the movie (besides that of McBride himself) was absolutely terrible—especially that of Mary Jane Bostic (as McBride’s wife). Her acting talent seemed to be more on par with wannabe porn star than Hollywood comedy co-star.

Perhaps The Foot Fist Way would have been better if it had stuck to the off-the-wall, random humor-driven plotline that movies like Napoleon Dynamite and Hot Rod capitalized so well on. Instead, this movie adopted a more straightforward plot, and tried to incorporate the humor into the storyline—which didn’t work well at all. In addition, much of the humor did not only fall flat—it was cringe-inducing. What is meant to be awkward humor often comes off as uncomfortable; and the “shock” humor is merely distasteful. (Does anyone really think it is funny to watch a grandmother get beaten up by a grown man?)

Admittedly, there were a few good one-liners through the course of the movie, but they were not enough to carry the movie for the full hour-and-a-half running time. The movie also did get better as it went, but by the time it picked up I had already begun to check out.

In short, I would suggest you stay away from this one. If you’re looking for a movie full of random, ridiculous humor, and have seen Napoleon Dynamite one too many times, then I recommend Hot Rod. It has plenty of Danny McBride, and it will make you laugh.

Intelligence Level: 3/10

Scare Factor: Non-existent

Violence Level: Average

Humor Level: Meh…

Overall Rating: 4/10

Best Line: “…And thank you for this meal—that I paid for myself.”

“Moral of the story”: Don’t marry a woman who looks and acts like a porn star—she will probably cheat on you.