Review of Fist Fight (2017) by Matt M — 18 Oct 2017

The typical February comedy. So this is about a timid teacher (Charlie Day) who is just trying to keep his head down and hold on to his job. When he causes a hot-headed teacher (Ice Cube) to get fired, the gloves are coming off, and he gets challenged by said teacher to a fist fight after school.

Now I wasn't actually all that opposed to this. I saw a trailer or two, and it did get a couple of chuckles out of me. I like Charlie Day, and while his film career has been somewhat unremarkable other than the first Horrible Bosses, I do think he does brilliant work on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

But this is a February release, and unless it is a superhero movie, the chances of the movie being anything to write home about is slim to none. The thing about Fist Fight is that there really isn't all that much to it.

Ice Cube is being angry and mean mugging for the camera like he has done in every single movie he has ever been in, and Charlie Day is surprised and agitated, just like we have seen him be so many times before.

They're doing the same shtick over and over again, and it is not like there is a dynamite script to work off of or anything. It is about 25 minutes worth of juvenile humor stretched out over the course of 90 minutes, and it starts seriously spinning its wheels at about the 40-minute mark.

All of the supporting characters are cartoons, and the only one I feel was able to do anything with it was Kumail Nanjiani. Even still, everybody has so little to work with, and this is a movie that has its big conclusion at a talent show, a cliché that is making a comeback for some reason.

To call this movie unrealistic would be an understatement, as this doesn't even have a toe in the realm or realism. There is no reason to believe anybody here would be able to hold down a job of being a teacher with how they talk to principals and students, especially in this day and age.

I got infrequent laughs from this, and at least it does deliver on what it promises: there is a decent fist fight at the end. Still, this is a movie that you can ultimately skip because there is just so little here.