"The Foot Fist Way" is an amusingly awkward kick
Date Modified: 06/09/2008 2:36 PM
By Christy Lemire
AP Movie Critic
Fred Simmons could be the kid brother of Ron Burgundy, or perhaps a not-so-distant cousin of Ricky Bobby. He's basically a low-rent version of the well-honed Ferrell persona: a swaggering fool who's totally deluded about his power and intelligence, one who's almost too obnoxious to bear. Yet there's something so obviously pathetic and insecure about him beneath the bravado that you find yourself inadvertently rooting for him. So it makes absolute sense that Ferrell and partner Adam McKay would choose "The Foot Fist Way" as the first film they're releasing through their company, Gary Sanchez Productions. It's like looking into a mirror and liking what you see. Co-writer and star Danny McBride is strip-mall Tae Kwon Do instructor Fred Simmons, who rocks with that awesome porn mustache. Fred's a black belt with a beer gut who teaches everyone from little kids to senior citizens. There's something vaguely noble about the way he approaches the tenets of the martial art — self-control, courtesy, perseverance, integrity and indomitable spirit — or at least there's nobility in the way he talks about them. In reality, he's a mess: His trashy, blond wife (Mary Jane Bostic) is sleeping around and the only way he can regain his confidence is to fight his idol, Chuck "The Truck" Wallace (co-writer Ben Best). First-time director Jody Hill, a friend of McBride and Best who co-wrote the script and has a small role as another bizarro Tae Kwon Do dude, wrings several raunchy, deadpan laughs out of this premise. But the movie ultimately goes nowhere, and looks shoddy in a way that doesn't even have a kitschy appeal.
R for strong language and some sexual content. 87 min. Two stars out of four.
