I saw "The Art of Self-Defense", starring Jesse Eisenberg-Batman v Superman:Dawn of Justice, Zombieland; Alessandro Nivola-American Hustle, Jurassic Park 3; Imogen Poots-Need For Speed, Fright Night_2011 and Steve Terada-When the Bough Breaks, Think Like a Man Too.
This is a dark comedy that was written and directed by Riley Stearns-a Texan who hails from Austin-that also directed Faults & The Cub. This movie was filmed in Kentucky. It's kind of a dark, comical remake of the Karate Kid-one of my favorite lines is when the sensei says, 'Punch with your feet...Kick with your hands!' Jesse plays a boring bookkeeper with no friends besides his pet dachshund. One night, on his way to buy dog food, he gets mugged and beaten up by a motorcycle gang. After getting out of the hospital he decides to buy a gun, but as you know, there is a waiting period to actually get your hands on the firearm so that he has to cool down. On his dejected walk home, he sees a Karate school and decides to check it out and start taking lessons. Alessandro is the sensei. Imogen and Steve are fellow competitive students. Imogen thinks she is not treated equally with the males in class so she is even more determined to prove them wrong. As Jesse gains more confidence, his life starts to change. Alessandro even invites Jesse to start coming to the night classes-it is by invite only for special students-and that's when things really get interesting. The night classes are much more intense and Jesse discovers more than he bargained for as secrets of his sensei and fellow students come to light.
It's rated "R" for violence, language and sexual content-including nudity-and has a running time of 1 hour & 44 minutes.
It's not for everyone but I enjoyed it and would buy it on DVD.
Review of The Art of Self-Defense
