Foot Fist Way, The

The cover art says that Will Ferrell and writer-director-comic actor Adam McKay "present" the film. It looks like the kind of film that Ferrell might have considered for himself and rejected, because there is a bit of "Anchorman" or "Blades of Glory" in the Fred Simmons character. It was McBride's first starring vehicle. Poor McBride. Not the best way to start.

For a comedy "The Foot Fist Way" is remarkably unfunny most of the time, with maybe one or two moments of humorous slapstick. The MPAA rated it R for "strong language and some sexual content."

Video:
This is a super low-budget affair, which the filmmakers shot it in a little over two weeks in 16 mm (blown up to 35 mm theatrical prints). Don't expect miracles, because it doesn't look very good. Paramount present the picture in its original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio, anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs. That goes a long way toward tempering the situation. Still, the image is fuzzy and filled with plenty of print grain. The saving grace is that the colors stand out well, even if they are a little glassy.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound isn't bad, given what it has to work with, which is mainly dialogue. There is an especially good dynamic impact and a fairly clean, taut bass. However, except in a few musical numbers, there is practically no surround activity.

Extras:
Frankly, it amazed me that Paramount provided any bonus materials on the disc at all, let alone the number of items they did include. Things begin with an audio commentary by director Jody Hill, star Danny McBride, and production designer Randy Gambill. They seem genuinely surprised that they made an actual film. I suppose at the time they made it, it all seemed like a home movie to them. Next up is a behind-the-scenes featurette with about twenty-five minutes of silent, black-and-white footage that is about as hard to sit through as the movie itself. After the featurette we find a couple of minutes of bloopers, followed by twenty deleted and extended scenes lasting over half an hour. Then, there's an alternate ending that the filmmakers understandably changed.

The extras finish up with a series of previews at start-up and even more previews in the main menu; sixteen scene selections; English and Spanish spoken languages; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Parting Shots:
I mentioned "Mr. Woodcock" earlier, and I'm not sure which film I disliked more. "Woodcock" was a fairly high-profile film with a big-name cast, so its failure might be more obvious. Yet at least it had the advantages of better acting, better direction, and better production values going for it. While I feel a little like the blustering, bullying dolts at the heart of both films for picking on such a small fry as "The Foot Fist Way," there is no way of my getting around saying how badly amateurish the film is and how prosaic it can be.

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