Review of The Foot Fist Way (2006) by Joshua B — 05 May 2010

"The Foot Fist Way", a made-for-cheap, back-alley project directed by Jody Hill and bought by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions company, embraces little relevance but produces just enough laughs to pass the time (which, at a skippy 82 min.

, is slight, to say the least). As pestering tae kwon do teacher Fred Simmons, Danny McBride, a long-kept secret in the world of funny (he's brought hardy giggles to many of director David Gordon Green's past and present films), makes a bid for stardom with his awkward, foulmouthed humor, which keeps tension untied when his character's wife (Mary Jane Bostic) gives way to her "whorish" impulses with his "life hero," martial artist and bad action movie star Chuck "The Truck" Wallace (Ben Best).

Fred is a winner, as he'll bluntly tell you, and so is McBride; if you don't find some charm in his quirkiness, you don't deserve a television. That said, "TFFW" certainly won't strum utter delight within all of its viewers, and the reason is its focal rationale: simplicity and silliness make an underdog comedy.

And not everyone will agree. Still, McBride and Hill are master simpletons with an acute understanding of silliness, thus their rather unsophisticated bit of film should feel less of an ordeal to those who'd like something deeper and more like the harmless fare of comedy it is.