THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE – Review

While the big-budget action blockbusters duke it out for the box office bucks at the multiplex a very different kind of action flick is popping up at the “art house” and “indie” cinemas. As the title suggests, there are a good number of physical altercations, but it mixes those elements with a true quirky sensibility. Plus it’s a comedy, but a much, much darker, twisted one than say last week’s STUBER. And it has a lot of things to say (often in a satiric tone) about the concepts of masculinity (emphasis on confidence and focus). It all about one average guy’s attempts to learn and hopefully master THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE.

The man in question is quiet, “mild-mannered”, socially awkward office drone (a high-ranking accountant) Casey (Jesse Eisenberg). When he returns to his apartment after a soul-draining humiliating workday, his beloved dachshund demands to be fed. Seeing that he’s out of dog food, Casey shuffles into the night, walking to the grocery store. Unfortunately, he encounters a violent biker gang. One of the thugs chases him down and beats him into unconsciousness. Casey wakes up in the hospital to hear a radio news report about his attack. After he’s discharged, Casey decides to buy a handgun and fills out the background check forms from a local firearms dealer. Casey’s prepared to wait several days, but on his walk home, he notices a karate training center. He goes inside the dojo and observes the end of a lesson taught by the Sensei (Alessandro Nivola). After dismissing the class, he invites Casey to return the next day for a complimentary first lesson. The next morning Casey arrives in time to see the last minutes of a children’s’ class taught by the surly, ill-tempered Anna (Imogen Poots). Luckily the Sensei intervenes, and the free lesson begins. Despite some blows that send him to the floor, Casey is enthralled (mainly due to Sensei’s charisma) and quickly signs up for the program. In no time he goes from white to yellow belt (and often wears it while driving). Sensei is soon counseling Casey in private, triggering a big personality change. As Casey devotes more and more time to the dojo, he becomes aware of his mentor’s rivalries and secrets, which may just cost him his life.

This weird wonder of a film provides another showcase for the uniquely odd Mr. Eisenberg. His twitchy take on Casey may be his most “tightly repressed” since, well, his “whacked-out” riff on supervillain Lex Luthor. Of course, Casey starts out with none of LL’s grandiose aggressions. This little “cog” in the corporate wheel almost seems to have a target tattooed on his bent-over backside. When the world finally unloads on him, Eisenberg shows us the panic in Casey’s squinting eyes. He knows he must make some radical changes. At the dojo we actually see him regaining a zest for life, which makes a parking lot humiliation heartbreaking. Then his karate and now spiritual guide verbally flips a switch on him. The transformation of Casey from prey to predator is an astounding bit of physical acting from Eisenberg as he becomes a nearly emotionless robotic bully (complete with machine-like movements and an almost monotone voice issuing threats). We also see Casey as a detective and eventually as a dispenser of justice (we see his brain exploring scenarios through Eisenberg’s more alert eyes). This is one of his most complex and compelling film roles. Plus he’s a great contrast to the more “low-key” mannered performance by Nivola whose tonally flat lectures (his story of the “Grand Master’s” accidental demise is truly strange) masks his seething ambitions. He lets his rapid martial arts moves replace any need for bombastic bellowing. Nivola gives the Sensai a feline quality, as though he enjoys playing with his mice before devouring them, bouncing between praise and passive-aggressive put-downs (“I’m disappointed with your work today, Casey”). As he teases his class and co-workers with promotions and rewards, this mentor acts like a most perplexing “papa”. Most confused by him may be Poots as Anna, who has great hostility toward Casey at the start, but gradually opens up and becomes his biggest ally. There’s’ a whiff of attraction between the two, but Anna keeps her protective guard in place.

With his second feature film, writer/director Riley Stearns gives us maybe the most unhinged, off-kilter comedy of the year (for those that put MIDSOMMAR firmly in the horror genre). He’s taken the basic premise of a modern KARATE KID (although Casey’s closing in on middle age), though the dojo feels closer to Cobra Kai, and folds in elements from FIGHT CLUB while sprinkling in just a dash of WANTED and KICK ASS. Stearns maintains a languid pace, perhaps to hammer in the banality of Casey’s “humdrum” existence. There’s the slightest change in tone inside the karate center, as many training sequences go in and out of slow-motion (to accent the pain, perhaps) while the colors “pop” a bit more (that coveted yellow belt almost shimmers). Speaking of that belt, one very funny sequence has Casey special ordering a yellow dress belt he can wear at work (the cloth one would stand out there) and revealing that he had to place a bigger order. He then proudly gifts Sensai with a black dress belt (who would sell those). The whole “belt promotion” theme adds an extra layer of tension in the locker room. That setting becomes truly absurd, careening from homophobia to homo-eroticism (especially at the mysterious “night classes” as they “cool down”). All this builds to a wild weird final showdown that may have some audiences laughing and cheering, while others may feel “cheated”. It’s not everybody’s cup of herbal tea, but for those looking for a flick that’s truly far away from the typical Summer film fare, THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE is a one-of-a-kind action-comedy. Just don’t try any of the stunts if you run into trouble outside the cinema (here’s a tip: the answer to the bikers is always, “Yes, I do”).

3 Out of 4