Review of Fist Fight (2017) by Kj P — 16 Feb 2017

Let me clarify here. In no way was I going into this film expecting something great, or even hilarious for that matter. The trailers had a few chuckles, but I truly expected this film to be a bunch of misfires, along with a cliched premise that would be predictable from beginning to end. Sadly, the latter is more than 100% true, but I can't deny that Fist Fight made me laugh quite a bit. I found myself predicting the entire film from start to finish, but not all of the jokes throughout it. I was chuckling consistently and that is the main job for a comedy. For that, I have nothing to do but commend it for that. Fist Fight may be as by the numbers as you can possibly get as far as story goes, but the bottom line is that it's funny. It's not something you have to rush out and see, but here is why I think it deserves your time in the end.

Never did I think I would see Charlie Day and Ice Cube headlining a film together, but that is precisely what made it as good as it is. Following two teachers (Andy and Ron) as they try to maintain a corrupted school environment, Ron is fired after lashing out in his classroom, but only due to the fact that Andy was a rat and tattled on Ron, thus sparking a feud between them, strongly favoured by Ron. Ron challenges Andy to a fight after school and hilarity ensues from there. Sounds outlandish right? That's because it is and there is no way around that. From Andy having a wife who is about to give birth and a daughter that needs him at her talent show, Fist Fight tries very hard to make you laugh, tug at your heart-strings, and make you feel sympathy for everyone involved, in just 90 minutes. Why does this all work? The cast is very enjoyable as their respective characters.

The main plot is already ridiculous enough, but when you really deconstruct this film as a whole, the sub-plots are even more outlandish than the film itself. When another teacher, played unintentionally comical by Christina Hendricks, wants Ron to literally murder Andy, I found myself scratching my head at why it was going so far off course. Maybe it was due to the fact that they needed another plot to push the 90 minute run time, but that whole portion could have been removed and wouldn't have made a difference in the end. Also, there are some funny moments with the principal (played by Dean Norris), but they were too few and far between that I completely forgot he was in the film most of the time.

From the very beginning, you may want to roll your eyes at how convenient everything seems throughout the film. How everyone gets away with things when the police are around, how certain things will probably have happy endings, or how certain relationships between students and teachers will come to fruition, but they are all done in such a way that works. Most of the dialogue can be memorized before it's even said, because you have already heard it a million times, but the comedic timing this cast has still made almost every gag work for me. I found myself laughing consistently throughout most scenes and I found myself forgiving the grievances.

In the end, this film is really all about the humour and the big fight in the finale. I was laughing throughout most of the movie and the fight was actually pretty entertaining, so naturally I left somewhat satisfied. Yes, the dialogue was very lame at times and the story could not have been any simpler, but sometimes you just need nonsensical entertainment that doesn't make you want to tear your hair out. I had fun watching this film, even with all of its flaws present. Will I remember it as one of the best comedies that could out this year? Probably not, but I will definitely remember that it made me laugh and for that reason alone, I will recommend this film to anyone who is looking for a harmless good time at the movies. Fist Fight was much funnier than I was expecting.