A Predictable, Forced Comedy
In The Foot Fist Way, McBride plays Fred Simmons, an incompetent, arrogant, egotistical, and generally stupid Tae Kwon Do instructor. Through this eighty-two minute feature, we follow Simmons’ struggle with a trashy, unfaithful wife played by Mary Jane Bostic, and his obsession with a martial arts actor known as Chuck “The Truck” Williams, played by Ben Best. These two aspects of his life ultimately collide and this serves as the crux of the film.
Along the way there are plenty of awkward, forced comedic moments that are generally predictable well in advance. A scene that has a short, overweight woman sparring against a taller, stronger man for example, takes a while to formulate but you can already guess what happens: Simmons stops the sparring to try to teach the class the importance of using combos in sparring, a valid point. He then taunts the man that his woman sparring partner will be unstoppable with this single combo she just learned, and when he allows them to resume fighting with full contact, it’s obvious that the combo doesn’t work, that she gets floored, and we’re again reminded how incompetent McBride’s character is. It took a while to explain this, but I hope it makes my point – that for the vast majority of the film, you’re dealing with short scenes that are largely predictable and ultimately not funny. All told, I probably laughed two times, for what it’s worth, with my favorite line being one McBride shouts out in an elevator.
Another overarching point I’d like to make is that The Foot Fist Way has this unmistakable choppiness and ‘thrown together’ feeling about it. Even at eighty-two minutes, it feels too long because the film feels like something that could have been accomplished just as well in a short of some kind, much less a theatrical release (or attempt at one anyway). It was obviously a very brief, low budget project, and one of McBride’s first roles in his very short career thus far, but a purchase decision doesn’t need to take that into account.
The DVD Release
Most of you probably never heard The Foot Fist Way, it had a very limited release earlier this year in a handful of theaters and was pulled rather quickly from what I understand. On DVD, I don’t know that it’s going to fair much better.
In terms of quality, the video and audio presentation is acceptable, but far from high quality. As far as extras, there is more than you might expect for this caliber of movie, but it’s not enough to save it. Included on this DVD release:
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Audio Commentary from director Jody Hill, Danny McBride, and Randy Gambill.
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Twenty deleted scenes, as well as an alternate ending.
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Several minutes of bloopers.
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A black and white making of feature that is purely soundtrack; not very informative, or enjoyable, and it far overstays its welcome by the time it stops at around the twenty-five minute mark.
Conclusion
Danny McBride is an up and coming comedy star that may or may not be successful in Hollywood. Fans of McBride’s very short career should consider renting The Foot Fist Way to see McBride in one of his very first roles. For everyone else, The Foot Fist Way is a predictable and forgettable comedy that quite honestly isn’t worth your dollar this holiday.
