Think Talladega Nights Meets Napolean Dynomite Meets Karate

The Foot Fist Way marks Jody Hill’s first time at writing a feature film, as well as his first time directing one. It is easily one of the best comedies released in recent years, falling just shy of the greatness of recent Judd Apatow projects. It will have you giggling, it will have you laughing out loud, and it will have you smiling when you leave the theater. It is absolute silliness and manages to entertain throughout its entire runtime.

Plot: Fred Simmons (Danny McBride) appears to be a loser. He is an instructor at a lame Tae Kwan Do school where anyone and everyone is welcome; pending they put up with his childish and reckless antics long enough to learn something. Simmons finds continual struggle with registering new members for class, as well as putting up with his monogamy-challenged wife (Mary Jane Bostic). Life takes a different course for Simmons after a chance encounter with his beloved fighter, Chuck ‘The Truck’ Wallace (Ben Best). Things get complicated for Simmons, who has to decide between the life he’s lived and the ‘hobby’ he loves.

The title of this review really says it all. The Foot Fist Way is what would happen if you took the comedic style of Will Ferrell and John C Reilly and shoved it into a film with the same style as Napoleon Dynamite. It feels almost like a documentary, yet more simplistic. In a good way. Jody Hill has obviously spent a lot of time studying the things that make him laugh, as well as the reasons why, and his work here behind the camera (as well as in the film) provide the viewer with one of the most memorable comedies to date. Hill makes it a pure pleasure watching McBride give an onslaught of verbal abuses. Every single mistake McBride makes will have you laughing, yet the viewer is left questioning just how intelligent McBride truly is. Is he really a master of Tae Kwan Do, or is he just full of himself?

Danny McBride will be remembered for his performance here. He brings life to the lovable, yet fallible character of Fred Simmons in a way that no one else could. You love Simmons like you loved Al Bundy. He’s a total loser, in every sense of the word, yet you can’t help but wish him the best. He’s a total idiot, yet you can’t help but enjoy him when he’s around. You are most certainly laughing at him, and you’re supposed to. McBride has both Pineapple Express and Land of the Lost coming up, in which his roles will be much smaller than here, yet after Foot Fist Way’s release its hard to imagine him not being offered much bigger parts. The other characters in this film serve more as a side salad to McBride’s main entre. Ben Best plays the lowlife karate expert very well, while Mary Jane Bostic’s Mrs. Simmons couldn’t be a bigger joke.

There are lines and jokes here that will make you laugh for years to come, including a small bit over ‘lil Stevie Fisher’ as well as the ‘battle of the band’ attack. McBride’s one-liners and attitude towards life are about as silly as they come and if the trailer is true, that Ferrell and Adam McKay quote this film ‘all the time’, it’s easy to see why. There’s very little wrong with this gem of a movie, with the only real weakness being the ending, or lackthereof. This will serve as an instant purchase upon its release on DVD and will certainly have you and your friends laughing during, after, and for years to come.