'The Foot Fist Way'

Rating:

BY RAFER GUZMÁN | rafer.guzman@newsday.com

May 30, 2008

More a resumé-builder than a bona fide feature, "The Foot Fist Way" has already served its purpose. This no-budget comedy found a fan in Will Ferrell, who liked its crude-dude humor so much he slated it as the first release through his newly formed production company. The movie has enough memorable moments to become a sleeper hit, or perhaps gain a second life on video, but no matter: Its star and co-writer, Danny McBride, is already on his way, appearing in Ben Stiller's upcoming spoof "Tropic Thunder" and now filming "Land of the Lost" with Ferrell.

McBride plays Fred Simmons, a boorish tae kwon do instructor whose ego is even bigger than his beer gut. But his bravado takes a hit when he catches his wife engaged in office-party hanky-panky ("I got really drunk," she explains, "like, Myrtle Beach drunk"). That leads Fred on a voyage of self-discovery and, of course, to a martial arts showdown.

Compensating for a total lack of plot, the filmmakers have a grand time goofing around in their various guises: Director and co-writer Jody Hill plays a black belt with peroxide hair and a dark streak; Ben Best, another co-writer, is almost too believable as a degenerate action hero named Chuck "The Truck" Wallace. And McBride, clearly influenced by Ferrell's combination of bonehead comedy and little-boy sensitivity, actually makes us care about Fred: Whether gently coaxing the starry-eyed tots in his class or pummeling them out of frustration, he's downright endearing.

The film stops when the jokes do, making for an anti-climactic finale. But if "The Foot Fist Way" is more about promise than delivery, its creators are off to an impressive start.

THE FOOT FIST WAY (R). Comedy about an overbearing martial arts teacher who must learn his own lessons. With Danny McBride, Ben Best, Jody Hill. 1:27 (language, sexual innuendo). At AMC Empire 25 and City Cinemas Village East, Manhattan.