Movielogr
The Art of Self-Defense (2019)
Directed by Riley Stearns
Twitter Facebook Google+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.
Length 104 minutes
Actors
Jesse Eisenberg | Alessandro Nivola | Imogen Poots | Steve Terada | David Zellner | Phillip Andre Botello | Jason Burkey | Hauke Bahr | Dallas Edwards | Mike Brooks | C.J. Rush | Leland Orser | Josh Fadem | Davey Johnson | Katherine Martin | Cameron Murphy | Nicholas Hulstine | Lena Friedrich | Frederic Spitz | Louis Robert Thompson | Katherine Smith-Rodden | Apollo Bacala | Caroline Amiguet
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07/22/2019 | Movie Screen | Digital | Theater | 5 stars |
| (Average) 5 stars |
Viewing Notes
Ugh really don’t like this cinema. Also turns out that I really don’t like this movie. This makes me sad b/c I really enjoyed his previous film FAULTS, which took a familiar premise and flipped it on its ear. I was expecting something similar to occur with this film, which was telegraphing its intent from the get-go, to change things up. Nope. It’s exactly what it says it is and never lets up off the gas. I guess for some people (who really like this movie) that’s what they wanted.
Sure, there are some amusing moments / bits (it’s a dark comedy, after all) but nothing to sustain my interest. We also had one man in our theater that would laugh LOUDLY at every slightly humorous thing. There were only 6 or 7 of us but holy shit was that annoying.
Also this isn’t a movie that I feel needs to be seen big (not a cinematic feature). It’s a small movie and I almost think it will play better on TV. It just has that feel to it (the small apartment, the small office space, the small dojo, etc). So I’ll check it out again at some point.
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