The Art of Self-Defense (2019) Review

"In the art of accounting, I'm a white belt...and you are a fiscal black belt."
-Sensei



Timid accountant, Casey Davies (Jesse Eisenberg), is mugged and brutally beaten.  Casey becomes determined to overcome his fear and starts taking karate lessons.  As Casey embraces all things masculine, he soon finds that the dōjō has a dark secret.


What Works:

Jesse Eisenberg plays a pretty typical Eisenberg character, but that isn't a bad thing.  Eisenberg is a character actor and he plays that type extremely well.  He's easy to root for and he brings a lot of emotion to the role.

The real standout is Alessandro Nivola, who plays Sensei.  He's extremely calm and soft-spoken, but utterly unhinged and intimidating.  It's an excellent performance and I wish more people talked about it.

I'm actually a black belt in karate, so it was very fun for me to see this bastardization of karate that Sensei teaches.  I think people who have never been in martial arts will still really enjoy this film, but anyone who has ever taken classes will appreciate it even more.

The Art of Self-Defense might be the most effective deconstruction of toxic masculinity I have ever seen.  It's very well done.  It never attacks masculinity as a whole, but the toxic elements.  It shows the audience how ridiculous this behavior is and why some people embrace it.

Finally, this is a dark-comedy and lives up to it.  This movie is extremely funny, but very violent.  A lot of bad things happen and it's frequently portrayed as funny, but not always.  If you don't like dark-comedies, than this movie isn't for you, but if you can tap into your dark side, you'll love it.


What Sucks:

My only complaint with the film is that the ending is a little bit anti-climatic.  It works narratively and has a really funny moment, but it could have been drawn out longer to be more effective.


Verdict:

The Art of Self-Defense is a wonderful dark-comedy with excellent performances from Eisenberg and Nivola, as well some smartly crafted critiques of toxic masculinity.  I wish the 3rd act had been drawn out a bit more, but this movie is one of the best films of 2019 and has definitely got it going on.

 9/10: Great 

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