Fred Simmons (scientist)
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''The Foot Fist Way'' is a 2008 American
martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...
black comedy film Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
directed by Jody Hill and starring
Danny McBride Daniel Richard McBride (born December 29, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. Known for his unique acting and writing style, the accolades he has received include nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and four Sat ...
. The film was produced by Gary Sanchez Productions that picked up distribution rights to the film and hoped for it to achieve a ''
Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American Independent film, independent Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt (producer), Chris Wyatt and Sean C. Covel (producer), Sean Covel, written by Jared and J ...
''-like success.


Plot

Fred Simmons (
Danny McBride Daniel Richard McBride (born December 29, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. Known for his unique acting and writing style, the accolades he has received include nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and four Sat ...
) is a fourth-degree black belt in
Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...
who runs his own dojang in a small
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
town. He styles himself a big shot, driving a
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
and extolling the virtues of Taekwondo to potential new students, but loses his confidence after he discovers that his wife, Suzie (Mary Jane Bostic) gave her boss a
handjob A handjob (also spelled hand job) is a manual sex act involving a person stimulating the penis or scrotum of another by using the hand. This is done to induce an erection for sexual pleasure, sexual arousal and may result in orgasm and ejaculat ...
after a drunken office party. In order to restore his confidence, he attends a martial arts expo. He meets his idol,
B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...
action star Chuck "the Truck" Wallace ( Ben Best), who in reality turns out to be a dirty and drunken mess. After nearly brawling with Chuck's seedy friends, Fred persuades Chuck to make an appearance at his upcoming Taekwondo belt test and then parties with his friends and students in Chuck's hotel room. Fred returns home and sells his Ferrari to pay Chuck's $10,000 appearance fee. Shortly thereafter, Suzie returns to Fred after losing her job. On the night before the belt test, Fred catches Suzie having sex with Chuck on his own couch. Fred challenges Chuck to a fight, but is eventually beaten and driven off. The next morning, Suzie once again asks to be taken back, but Fred rejects her and urinates on his wedding ring. Fred arrives at the test late, battered and bruised, but with his confidence restored. When Chuck arrives for his appearance, Fred challenges him to a martial arts demonstration of board breaking, which he wins. At the following belt ceremony, Fred reads a new student pledge that he has written, which outlines the goals and responsibilities of Taekwondo.


Cast

*
Danny McBride Daniel Richard McBride (born December 29, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. Known for his unique acting and writing style, the accolades he has received include nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and four Sat ...
as Fred Simmons, a black belt and instructor of Taekwondo in a small southern town. * Ben Best as Chuck "The Truck" Wallace, a B movie action star. Best is also a member of the music band Pyramid, who supplied songs to the film's soundtrack. Other members of the band played bit parts as Chuck's friends at his party. * Mary Jane Bostic as Suzie Simmons, Fred's unfaithful, spandex-clad wife. * Spencer Moreno as Julio, Fred's overweight adolescent second-in-command at the dojang. * Carlos Lopez IV as Henry, a meek youth who finds self-confidence through Taekwondo. * Jody Hill as Mike McAlister, Fred's intense friend and fellow Taekwondo black belt. * Collette Wolfe as Denise * Jonathan M Ewart as Charles All martial artists in the film, excluding McBride and Best, were played by true Taekwondo practitioners, many fro
Concord Taekwondo
in Concord, North Carolina.


Promotion

On February 26, 2008, McBride appeared as Fred Simmons on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...
''. Many viewers were unfamiliar with either Fred or McBride and as a result there was initially much speculation as to whether the seemingly disastrous Tae Kwon Do demonstration, during which Fred asked for a "redo" after a failed block-splitting attempt and awkward interview, during which he repeatedly lashed out at fellow guest
Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his leading man roles in comedy films and for his work as a television producer. Ferrell received various accolades, including ...
for dancing around in a sexual nature during his interview segment earlier, were real or staged. Among the only immediate clues to suggest the interview was a setup was when the website for the film was flashed onscreen during the interview.


Critical response

''The Foot Fist Way'' received mixed reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has a 53% approval rating, based on 83 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The rough edges and biting humor of this martial arts comedy will keep audiences laughing and cringing in turns." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a score of 63 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". John Anderson of '' Variety'' gave the film a fairly positive review, stating that the film is "crying out to be discovered by midnight movie mavens".


Home media

The film was released on DVD and
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
on April 8, 2008 by
Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, originally Paramount Home Video, and operating as the namesake film studio since 2022) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures. The division oversees Para ...
.


Soundtrack

The digital-only soundtrack was released in May 2008 by
Lakeshore Entertainment Lakeshore Village Entertainment, LLC was an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum. Lakeshore Entertainment is headquartered in Bev ...
and features fifteen songs by the band,
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
, of which "The Foot Fist Way" writer and actor, Ben Best was a member. The band, Kung Flude, features current Electric Frankenstein singer, Johnny Flude. “The Foot Fist Way” soundtrack track list # “Put To The Test” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# “Dog Wild Heaven” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# “That’s What They Call Them” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# "Hi Ya” – Kung Flude # “The Handjob Lament” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# "Sex Prowl” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# "Sad Ferrari” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# "Mike’s Theme” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# "Mother’s Day” – Sexual Warriors # "Ode To Ude” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# "I Control Your Rock N’ Roll” – Kung Flude # "Elevate” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# "Walkin On” – Birds of Avalon # "Not Really Feeling This Party” – Uno Dose # "Sea Lung” – Dynamite Brothers # "Flesh Tiger” – Dynamite Brothers &
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# "The Ballad Of The Blow Job” – Dynamite Brothers # "Seven Rings Of Pain” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# "Guts” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# "Anthem” – Dynamite Brothers # "Confidence” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# "Sleep Walkin Again” – Dynamite Brothers # "Trendels” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
# "Sack O’ Locks” – Dynamite Brothers # "Drunk Bed Dance” –
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...


Notes


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foot Fist Way, The 2006 films 2006 black comedy films American black comedy films 2000s English-language films Films directed by Jody Hill Films with screenplays by Danny McBride Films shot in North Carolina Gary Sanchez Productions films 2000s martial arts comedy films American martial arts comedy films Paramount Vantage films MTV Films films Taekwondo films 2008 martial arts films 2008 directorial debut films 2000s American films English-language black comedy films English-language action comedy films