The Art of Self-Defense (2019)
Stars: Jesse Einsenberg, Alessandro Nivola, Imogen Poots
Runtime: 104 minutes
Synopsis: After being attacked on the street, a young man enlists at a local dojo, led by a charismatic and mysterious sensei, in an effort to learn how to defend himself from future threats.
Performances: 8/10
Screenplay: 4/10
Editing: 6/10
Cinematography: 5/10
Score/Soundtrack: 4/10
Verdict: Riley Stearns' "The Art of Self-Defense" has been on my radar for quite a while now. The trailer seemed interesting and the reception it received was mostly encouraging. And while I definitely wouldn't call it a forgettable movie, I thought it was both promising and disappointing simultaneously.
I was hooked as soon as we were introduced to Jesse Eisenberg's Casey, a typical loser-type outcast who on a quiet evening is robbed and left in a critical condition. After a few days of recovery, he decides to take Karate classes in order to be better prepared if another altercation was to happen. In the dojo, we meet Sensei, played by Alessandro Nivola, and Anna, played by Imogen Poots, two characters I immediately loved as I found them to be self-aware in an absolutely hilarious fashion. Watching Einsenberg adapt to his new way of life in the first half of the movie, while being a little sloppy in its technical execution with constant continuity errors and a bunch of cheesy lines, was still extremely entertaining and funny. But alas, the film lost me with the much darker direction it took in its second half. It was an understandable route to take, especially when factoring in the themes of toxic masculinity the movie deals with, but it was much too detached from what came before it and I couldn't get into the shift in tone at all.
This is why I'm calling "The Art of Self-Defense" both promising and disappointing at the same time. It really did feel like two separate movies, and maybe that was the intent behind it. But I personally loved the light and entertaining version much more than the dark and twisted one, and do wish that this approach was followed through the entirety of the movie.
I was hooked as soon as we were introduced to Jesse Eisenberg's Casey, a typical loser-type outcast who on a quiet evening is robbed and left in a critical condition. After a few days of recovery, he decides to take Karate classes in order to be better prepared if another altercation was to happen. In the dojo, we meet Sensei, played by Alessandro Nivola, and Anna, played by Imogen Poots, two characters I immediately loved as I found them to be self-aware in an absolutely hilarious fashion. Watching Einsenberg adapt to his new way of life in the first half of the movie, while being a little sloppy in its technical execution with constant continuity errors and a bunch of cheesy lines, was still extremely entertaining and funny. But alas, the film lost me with the much darker direction it took in its second half. It was an understandable route to take, especially when factoring in the themes of toxic masculinity the movie deals with, but it was much too detached from what came before it and I couldn't get into the shift in tone at all.
This is why I'm calling "The Art of Self-Defense" both promising and disappointing at the same time. It really did feel like two separate movies, and maybe that was the intent behind it. But I personally loved the light and entertaining version much more than the dark and twisted one, and do wish that this approach was followed through the entirety of the movie.
FINAL GRADE: 5/10
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