IGN.com|AskMen.com|Rotten Tomatoes|GameSpy|FilePlanet|TeamXbox|CheatsCodesGuides|GameStats|Direct2Drive
RottenTomatoes.com
Register | Log In | What is RT?
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Trailers & Pictures The Vine Forums
Box Office | Best Of | Certified Fresh
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches by subscribing to our Google Subscribed Links profile.
 
Movies / On DVD / The Foot Fist Way
The Foot Fist Way

Rate This Movie

Write a Review
See Pictures
Share This Movie
Add to List
Buy Poster

Bookmark and Share

The Foot Fist Way (2008)

57%
80%
55%
N/A
N/A
N/A
57 %
Reviews Counted: 61 Fresh: 35  Rotten:26 Average Rating: 5.6/10
 
Consensus: The rough edges and biting humor of this martial arts comedy will keep audiences laughing and cringing in turns.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 87 mins

Theatrical Release: May 30, 2008 Limited

Box Office: $184,510

Synopsis: The literal translation of "Tae Kwan Do," THE FOOT FIST WAY is a hilarious look at a suburban North Carolina strip mall martial arts school run by a bullying egotist (Danny McBride). Shot on the cheap (in just 19 days), the film uses its shortcomings to its advantage, keeping the action low, the... The literal translation of "Tae Kwan Do," THE FOOT FIST WAY is a hilarious look at a suburban North Carolina strip mall martial arts school run by a bullying egotist (Danny McBride). Shot on the cheap (in just 19 days), the film uses its shortcomings to its advantage, keeping the action low, the kicks flying, the wood splintering, and getting all the minutiae of after-school karate class just right. Co-screenwriter/star McBride brings realistic gym coach qualities galore to his character, Mr. Simmons; the deadpan documentary tone is spot-on and there's a sense these students are actually learning this art as the movie goes on. McBride's writing partners play other Tae Kwan Do professionals: Ben Best is fun as the debauched action movie star rival, Chuck the Trucki; co-writer/director Jody Hill shows up in a hilarious bit as Simmons's mystical fifth-level blackbelt compadre. Mary-Jane Bostic is frighteningly vivid as the spandex-clad, habitually unfaithful Mrs. Simmons. Stylistically, this comedy has a lot in common with deadpan fly-on-the-wall mockumentaries like THE OFFICE and BORAT. Thematically, there are in-depth looks into issues of male maturity and bonding, so beloved of the Will Ferrell genre (Ferrell's company snatched it up after it rocked the house at Sundance). Be warned: though the movie is full of little kids, it earns its R-rating with disrespectful language and drugs/sex/violence-filled situations. The very cool prog rock score is by Pyramid. [More]

Genre: Karate

Starring: Danny R. McBride, Ben Best, Mary-Jane Bostic, Mary Jane Bostic

Screenwriter: Jody Hill, Jody Hill, Danny McBride, Danny R. McBride, Ben Best, Ben Best
Producer: Jody Hill, Erin Gates, Robbie Hill, Jennifer Chikes
Composer: Pyramid

DVD Info

Release:

Sep 23, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital - English

Reviews

 
T-Meter Critics
 
 
Top Critics
 
 
RT Community
 
 
My Critics
 
 
My Friends
 
 
DVD
 
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By: Name | Fresh | Rotten | Date | Source
 
 
Ratings Image
2/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
Ratings Image
1/4

Apparently the writers thought Fred was so inherently funny they barely bothered to write jokes for him - and then thought those jokes were so funny they didn't need well-timed delivery.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/27/08
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
Ratings Image
2/4

This comedy clocks in around 90 minutes. Yet somehow it still feels too long and overly padded -- as if it were a sketch-comedy show bit that was stretched out to feature length.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/26/08
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Ratings Image
4/4

If I had my way, every indie comedy would be done The Foot Fist Way.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/20/08
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
Ratings Image
B

A semi-hilarious nonformula movie that makes you realize why formulas are born.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/20/08
Michael Sragow
Baltimore Sun
Ratings Image
3.5/5

Built out of the 'asshole as hero' mode of amusement...The Foot Fist Way is a collection of contradictory ideals gelling effortlessly into a smart, savvy whole.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/19/08
Bill Gibron
PopMatters
Ratings Image
D+

A low-budget wannabe cult comedy shot three years ago, only recently graduating from underground DVD circulation to a small theatrical release. It should've stayed in obscurity.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/19/08
Brian Orndorf
BrianOrndorf.com
Ratings Image
1.5/4

Basically plays like a Will Ferrell vehicle without Will Ferrell.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/18/08
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
Ratings Image
B

A raucous and often very funny examination of a man who is a loser in every possible respect.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/13/08
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com
Ratings Image
3/4

A very cool comedy based on character -- real, and really self-deluded characters -- and not on shtick.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/12/08
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
Ratings Image
N/A

Everything feels like it sprang from an all-night, cola-fueled brainstorm, so every bit slips easily away, usually after generating a grin or two, if not many laughs.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/12/08
Robert Davis
Paste Magazine
Ratings Image
2.5/5

McBride's smalltown satire offers minor martial arts-themed laughs.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/12/08
Todd Gilchrist
IGN Movies
Ratings Image
4/5

Boasting outrageous laughs and a performance with real heart beneath its dim-bulb exterior, The Foot Fist Way is a ragged delight.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/12/08
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
Ratings Image
4/10

Fred is a sadder, more recognizable version of Ferrell characters like Ricky Bobby or Ron Burgundy, a pompous manchild with delusions of masculine dominance.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/08/08
Jesse Hassenger
PopMatters
Ratings Image
3/4

McBride sells the character with a straight face at all times, making it that much harder to watch when Simmons settles into full-fledged train-wreck mode.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/07/08
Rossiter Drake
San Francisco Examiner
Ratings Image
1/4

Google the trailer. That should be enough.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/06/08
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Ratings Image
2/4

Some bits fall flat well before they're driven into the ground, such as when Simmons tries to seduce a new female student. Others are painfully telegraphed so that when the payoff arrives, you've anticipated the blow and have become inured to it.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/06/08
Mark Rahner
Seattle Times
Ratings Image
4/4

Morning zoo radio DJs can rejoice: You'll be mining quotes from this movie for the next several decades.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/06/08
Peter Hartlaub
San Francisco Chronicle
Ratings Image
B+

We've all met this guy or someone close, and that makes him all the more deserving of that derision and a bit of empathy, too.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/06/08
Marc Mohan
Oregonian
Ratings Image
2.5/4

Once we relax into the fact that not much is going to happen, we can enjoy the film's little moments of nutso inspiration.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/06/08
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
See More Topics...

Related Forums

(2008 release/Rated R)-THE FOOT FIST WAY starts Friday, May 30th in FOUR big theaters
by: ReelReviewer.com 7/19


Non Critical Reviews
by: bigAO 6/1


FREE advance passes to 'The Foot Fist Way'!
by: Itsawrap 5/29


Conan Appearance
by: Driggs 3/18


Holy ****!
by: MillinOnFire! 1/27/06
all

Pictures

See More Movie Pictures
Play All

Trailers & Clips

  • >
    Trailer Premiere
  • >
    So It Begins
  • >
    Danny McBride, Jody Hill & Ben Best
  • >
    Will Ferrell & Adam McKay
1 of 4
See More Movie Trailers and Clips
all

News

Critical Consensus: Sex and the City Will Please Fans
posted by Tim Ryan May 29, 2008
This week at the movies, we've got love and commerce (Sex and the City: The Movie, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim...

Around the Network

• The Foot Fist Way at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Foot Fist Way at IGN
 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.