The Art of Self-Defense

7/12/20191h 44m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

Overview:

Casey is attacked at random on the street and enlists in a local dojo led by a charismatic and mysterious Sensei in an effort to learn how to defend himself. What he uncovers is a sinister world of fraternity, violence and hypermasculinity and a woman fighting for her place in it.

Director:

Riley Stearns

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$1,800,000.00

Revenue:

$2,400,000.00

Key words:

martial arts
sports
psychopath
dark comedy
karate
crematorium
sexism
cult
satire
murder
dojo
motorcycle gang
dog
german shepherd
misogyny
mugging
death of pet
black belt
masculinity
accountant
deadpan
toxic masculinity
traumatized man
ambiguous

Cast

Jesse Eisenberg

~ as ~

Casey

Alessandro Nivola

~ as ~

Sensei

Imogen Poots

~ as ~

Anna

Steve Terada

~ as ~

Thomas

David Zellner

~ as ~

Henry

Phillip Andre Botello

~ as ~

Kennith

Jason Burkey

~ as ~

Alex

Mike Brooks

~ as ~

Steve

C.J. Rush

~ as ~

Other Steve

Davey Johnson

~ as ~

Gun Store Owner

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

SWITCH.
Written 5 year(s) ago
8
‘The Art of Self-Defense’ is a truly funny, dark experience that will polarise audiences, hopefully leaving most of them satisfied. Just try not to think about it too much.
- Ashley Teresa
Read Ashley's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-the-art-of-self-defense-a-satire-as-pitch-black-as-a-karate-belt
Gimly
Written 5 year(s) ago
5
I went in expecting mumblecore, but got more of a Wes Anderson (which, to be fair, a primary influence of mumblecore). Wes Anderson almost always has violence in his movies, but probably nothing so brutal as The Art of Self-Defense. I thought that the whole movie would essentially be setting up Eisenberg as an awkward, meek nerd, who at the very end would go uber-violent, and the joke that they bothered to make a movie for would essentially be "You didn't think this guy would punch very good but then he does". Happy to say, I was wrong. Not only does Eisenberg punch pretty good on actually more than one occasion, there's also a story in The Art of Self-Defense as well, which I was not expecting. Now I still didn't think it was very good, and I definitely didn't think it was very funny, but my very low expectations were exceeded, so in the end I'm actually moderately happy with this one.

Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.