Review of The Foot Fist Way (2006) by Toby H — 02 Mar 2009

Danny McBride has had a meteoric rise over the past year. He appeared in two of the biggest comedies of last summer, "Pineapple Express" and "Tropic Thunder", and he's currently the star of an HBO series called "East Bound and Down". Before he broke out in "The Foot Fist Way", you may have recognized him from David Gordon Green's "All the Real Girls". And, of course, it's not much of a surprise that every one of those characters is exactly the same. In this film, he isn't Fred the tae kwon do instructor - he's Danny McBride: that one guy from "Pineapple Express", "Tropic Thunder" & "All the Real Girls". And, well, to an extent what he does completely works. However, what "The Foot Fist Way" shows is that although McBride is enjoyable in smaller parts, his character isn't fit for a lead role.

Fred Simmons (Danny McBride) thinks he's fucking awesome, and he won't hesitate to tell you. He runs a tae kwon do studio, with students aged anywhere between 8 and 80, and he'll rough them up all the same. In fact, when he finds out that his wife, Suzie (Mary Jane Bostic), cheated on him with who he believes is one of his young student's fathers, he beats up the child relentlessly. In another moment, he pairs up a young male and an elderly woman and tells the boy not to take it easy. Of course, within a matter of seconds, the woman is lifeless on the ground. Fred's only response is an unconcerned "she still alive?".

Fred's idol is Chuck "The Truck" Wallace (Ben Best, the co-writer), who stars in a series of films called "7 Rings of Pain". Eventually, Fred takes his best friend, Mike (Jody Hill, the director), and a few students to a karate expo to meet him. Fred is able to convince Chuck to come give a seminar at his school and stay with him and Suzie while he's in town. Of course, with his boobalicious wife at home, it's not long before the Truck and Suzie are going at it right under Fred's nose. Suddenly, Fred's hero becomes his nemesis.

The first 20 minutes or so of the film got quite a few laughs out of me. McBride's schtick as an uncaring, self-absorbed prick is convincing and mostly entertaining. My favorite moment early on is when he surprises his wife with a knife - he pops out from behind a corner and shouts "fuck you!" Once the film gets further than that, and especially when Chuck Wallace enters the picture, it becomes excruciating to sit through. It's a one joke film to begin with, and after that joke runs its course you'll be begging for it to end. At only 80 minutes, it felt twice as long.

McBride is an entertaining guy, but as a lead he wears out his welcome quickly. "The Foot Fist Way" has it's moments, but mostly it feels like a bad Saturday Night Live skit that just won't end.