Fist Fight
High School never looked so…. Interesting. “Fist Fight” centers around a fantasy school that makes Hogwarts looks semi normal. Filled with student that don’t give a shit and teachers who don’t seem give a shit about the students not giving a shit, expect of that one teacher who seems to give a bunch of shits about everything.
The movie is funny, there is not doubt about that. There we some good laughs and a tremendous scene at the end where I genially cracked up (Big Sean never sounded so good). And, if you are a Charlie Day Fan, you will not be disappointed. He delivers as nice guy teacher, Andy Campbell, pushed to far. I found myself really buying into his character arch and enjoyed every time he was onscreen. However, although filled with humorous moments, it seemed like Director Richie Keen struggled at points to stretch this abstract premise into a full movie. Which makes some sense since Keen has made his career in TV and this was his big screen directorially debut.
Luckily, Keen had a friendly face on set in his leading man, Charlie Day. The two teamed up for 11 of the funniest episodes of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (Reynolds vs. Reynolds: The Cereal Defense, The Gang Broke Dee) and their chemistry is evident in the way Keen seem to get the best out of Day. The audience was able to connect with his character and relate to some degree, even though having a fist fight with a co-worker is something a lot of us do day dream about someday.
In charge of this fantast school next was a group of teachers were a bit too one dimensional, but all had their funny moments. I did start to think midway thought; did they just grab well-known TV stars and throw them into this movie? Dean Norris “Breaking Bad”, Tracy Morgan “30 Rock”, Jillian Bell “Workaholics”, Kumail Nanjiani “Silicon Valley”, Christina Hendricks “Mad Men”, Charlie Day ... ok you get my point. Finally, Ice Cube pulled off a comical performance of a very “Ice Cube” like teacher, Strickland (who was the one giving a bunch of shits a referred to earlier). Ice Cube and Day played well off each other and the contrast in style between the two worked for me. They also pull off a pretty bad ass fight that was surprisingly rewarding and entertaining.
This movie falls prey to the previews taking the thunder out of the best and biggest jokes. Which was really disappointing. Those jokes were funny and did land, but without that shock value, you just do get the same impact.
So, you should see this movie if…
- You know who Bill Ponderosa and Margaret McPoyle are
- You want to watch Rocky on VHS but who the hell still has a VCR and so now your in the mood for a fighting movie
OR
- You’re looking for an amusing, outlandish comedy that will get you some good laughs
Rating: 3/5
