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I can
appreciate a good, nasty joke that's laced with bad
language and questionable moral value. I can appreciate
tastless gags. I can appreciate the desire to make a low
budget feature film. I can even appreciate hearing the
hype over an indie darling, although I've been down that
road before with "The Blair Witch Project." I was dupped
on that one. "The Foot Fist Way" apparently won some
fans, including actor Will Ferrell. The movie was picked
up by Paramount's independent film division, Paramount
Vantage. I've got a sense of humor and love it when the
little guy (i.e. independent filmmaker) strikes a deal
to have his/her film distributed by a major studio.
Would "The Foot Fist Way" win me over?
"The Foot Fist Way" is now available on DVD.
As much as I champion filmmakers making it into the big
time, "The Foot Fist Way" made we wince with its idiotic
lead character, Fred Simmons (Danny McBride), and
amateurish filmmaking. Simmons is a jerk and an
insensitive moron who berates his students (including
children), while winning little support from the
audience watching this movie. Simmons has no redeeming
value as a character. The scary thing is that I've met
some people in the martial arts community like him who
use their skills to instill fear and power over those he
perceives as weak. The only person Simmons looks up to
is a washed up martial arts movie star, Chuck "The
Truck" Wallace (Ben Best). Like Simmons, beneath the
facade of martial arts prowness lies an insecure and
hopeless individual. The premise of these two characters
could've made for a very funny movie. Instead,
especially with Simmons, one leaves the film with a
feeling of revulsion. This is a person that we neither
feel empathy for or even hate. He makes you feel
uncomfortable to be around.
The movie had virtually no budget to work with. The
direction is fairly rough around the edges, and for a
movie that has a short 82-minute running time, it felt
like it was much longer. The script has very little plot
development or a human heartbeat. We don't care for any
of the characters. Most of them are smarmy like Simmons.
I'm sure this is one of those movies that people who
like junior high humor funny will love. This is Will
Ferrell-style humor. Either you love it or you don't
find it funny at all. I'd even go so far as to rating
this movie up there with Adam Sandler comedy. Some
people will find "Foot Fist" extremely funny, while
others will find it demeaning and offensive.
Like going into the ring with a skilled opponent who's
twice your size, I went into watch this movie to give it
a try. I came out bruised, beaten, and sick to my
stomach.
Bill Kallay
Special thanks to Click Communications
Photos: © Paramount Vantage. All rights reserved.
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