Myrtle Beach Shorthand

The Foot Fist Way (2006)
directed by Jody Hill
rating: 4 out of 5 cravatsh
on DVD from Netflix

Here, too, is something to be said for the art of collaboration. More specifically, director Jody Hill - who also plays creepy but endearing Mike McAllister, protagonist Fred Simmons' (Danny McBride) best friend - co-wrote the screenplay for The Foot Fist Way with McBride and Ben Best. Best stars as McBride's hero-turned-antagonist Chuck "The Truck" Wallace, which literally puts three characters with tremendous egos (and a lot of potential for overbearing posture-specific improv) in the hands of the writers who wrote them.

The result couldn't be better. Since Best is clearly invested in Chuck, he's endearing even at his worst. A lot of comedies would set you up to like him strictly for his most selfish behavior, but Chuck, among other things, seems to have his own code. Honoring a contract is pretty high on the list; sleeping with someone's wife is not. Like Fred's tae kwon do class, the script leans towards crass and rote but always rights itself to sail true. Not that it doesn't play on a lot of the reasons my parents never let me take martial arts as a kid - always the strange instructors - but that's as intentional and as welcome as Hill's good effort at rescuing slow-motion from the purgatory of Wes Anderson's career.