The Art of Self-Defense

The Art of Self- Defense

This is a very bleak, dark humor comedy constructed from characters that all lack the upper facial muscles to ever show a smile.  So it does make sense to cast the remarkably bland Jesse Eisenberg (Casey) and all his neurotic warts into the lead role.

Its a world made of sheep and wolves and Casey is a sheep. A ho-hum accountant, with no friends, afraid of his superiors, co-workers, the dark… basically anything with a pulse.

His paranoia heightens after nearly getting beaten to death by a gang of leather clad dirt-bike riders after walking to the store to get dog food for his beloved Dachshund. There is no reason for this beating outside of the fact that it sets up this world and story for what we’re about to experience.

This fear nearly cripples him as he’s afraid to leave his home, especially at night.  But after a stroll through the decrepit downtown, in daylight of course, he hears a voice and sees a sign.  Karate.

Now this Karate dojo appears on the surface similar to a mix of the Cobra Kai and the Fist Foot Way.  The Sensei, played quite well by Allesandro Nivola, is a sadistic, over the top narcissist who speaks with a calm tongue and a resting heart rate of a chair.

His interactions with his class and Casey are at times painfully funny but in his over important dojo, with his self-important masculine fragrance drenched in the air, he is the master of his domain and the sensei sees a project in the meek Casey.  A sheep can become a wolf and possible take care of the accounting books while he’s there.

There’s not too much to this film which gives it’s bleak realty credibility as this world and everyone in it are black and white with shades of gray.  If you are defined by your day job, by the roles you play then you’re as much or more so defined by the belt you wear in the dojo.  A dojo that escalates quickly into some weird and fucked up shit.

Yes, some of the plot devices come off as contrived by director Riley Stearns but he does manage to find its well-placed comedy in the absurd and pathetic.

Why is watching a grown man ugly cry funny?  I don’t know but it is?

It’s relate-able on those darkest of days where you just feel the world is against you and you must punch someone in the face to set it right but beyond that it’s simply a story that’s easily forgettable despite it’s promising beginning.