Written and Directed by Riley Stearns
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Imogen Poots, Alessandro Nivola, Steve Terada, David Zellner
Soundtrack: Heather McIntosh
I haven’t written anything for a while (or much at all this year), let alone a review of a hot new film, and there are reasons for that. Vacation, sickness, holiday weekends, heatwaves, etc., but honestly, the biggest reason of all is that it’s been a pretty down year for movies, and I just haven’t been moved to give many films a hearty recommendation (or vice versa for something terrible); but, at last, something has come along to rustle me out of my slumber, and that is Riley Stearns’ The Art of Self-Defense.
Quite frankly, this is one of the best movies of the year (along with Apollo 11, which you should really watch if you haven’t yet).
The Art of Self-Defense is a dark comedy in the vein of Yorgos Lanthimos (though not as harsh) and Wes Anderson (though not as esoteric), but more crowd-pleasing than I expected (at least from the audience reactions I’ve been privy to), though I don’t want to pigeon-hole writer/director Riley Stearns too much as there is a unique voice here. The tone is dark enough to give the stakes serious enough weight, but comedic enough to allow for a lot of good chuckles and even a few laugh out loud moments, which is all I ever really ask of anything labeled a comedy.
Story-wise, the plot is simple enough: Jesse Eisenberg portrays a young accountant named Casey who is mugged one night, and based on this trauma decides to take up Karate under the wing of Sensei (played by
Alessandro Nivola). There are obviously twists and turns from there, but the execution and the performances from the leads are what really sells it, especially Nivola, who apparently came on board last minute, though you’d never know it from seeing the film.
In addition, I absolutely loved the production design in this movie. The world-building that comes out of it is on par with Dragged Across Concrete and Sorry to Bother You, and I’ll even throw Pete’s Dragon in there as both have an unspoken period element to the setting (Art of Self-Defense placing itself somewhere in the Nineties from what I can gather). For those of us who lived before the ubiquity of cell phones, it’s a real journey to the past.
And yes, there’s some deliciously incisive commentary on the nature of masculinity, I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention it, but it all feels naturally apart of the story (not unlike Nightcrawler), rather than the film taking timeout to beat you over the head with a message. Kudos.
So, yes, go see The Art of Self-Defense. I don’t know what the budget was (I’m going to guess minimal), but it’s a small movie that punches far above its weight class to deliver a surprising amount of hits. It’s a bit dark, a bit twisted, but more than humorous enough to still feel good about it in the end.
Keep going for it, Mr. Stearns. I’ve got my eye on you.
Rating: ★★★★☆
P.S.
I didn’t really expect anybody to get the reference; it’s a recent Mark Knopfler song.