It is funny, has a lot of action, and over all I really enjoyed the movie! The title may sounds like it would be boring. Many movies slaps some celebrities together to attract people go to the theater, and end up disappointing. Well, this movie is not directed by that Way. It's a successful comedy films. It's hilarious. To some degree, it also reflects some local educational questions. -Lillian from dvdpix
145 Reviews
Snitches get stitches!
Reno-Rangan14 September 2017
The first feature film for a television director. He did not get the best cast, but best among the second string. Charlie Day's first lead I'm seeing. I mean not like, among other big stars he used to do the roles. Yes, there are like Ice Cube in the film, but the whole narration was presented from the Charlie's viewpoint. This story needed strong voice, but he had none. You may get annoyed for that, but that's the first fun side of the tale. Charlie Day versus Ice Cube! This kind of combination is not new, but decently used to tell the story. I like Cube in comedies than the serious roles.
Well, it's not about the story, it's just a one day event. The final day of the school and a tough day for all. Because some of the staffs were fired from the job, the students' misconduct peaked, it's totally a messy day. The English teacher, Campbell, gets into a fight for going against his co-staff. So the day goes on as the countdown begins for their most anticipated fight at the final bell of the school. The preparation for that and all other craziness take place before the finale.
When the film started, it was like any other B movie, very familiar atmosphere and predictable. Once the second half kick-started, I felt it was getting better. And the climax was even better. So, it ended strongly, after a so-so opening. Till that end, I did not think it deserved a decent respect, but at the end a better one. With this kind of cast and thematic, the film was much better. Really a well made, nothing more than on the entertainment perspective. So, if that's your sole purpose to watch a film, then this is the right one. Go for it. A much better film than the rating it had received. #TeachersFight
7/10
Well, it's not about the story, it's just a one day event. The final day of the school and a tough day for all. Because some of the staffs were fired from the job, the students' misconduct peaked, it's totally a messy day. The English teacher, Campbell, gets into a fight for going against his co-staff. So the day goes on as the countdown begins for their most anticipated fight at the final bell of the school. The preparation for that and all other craziness take place before the finale.
When the film started, it was like any other B movie, very familiar atmosphere and predictable. Once the second half kick-started, I felt it was getting better. And the climax was even better. So, it ended strongly, after a so-so opening. Till that end, I did not think it deserved a decent respect, but at the end a better one. With this kind of cast and thematic, the film was much better. Really a well made, nothing more than on the entertainment perspective. So, if that's your sole purpose to watch a film, then this is the right one. Go for it. A much better film than the rating it had received. #TeachersFight
7/10
nice
Kirpianuscus15 January 2019
As teacher, I saw this film as a sort of nice joke trying, in hard manner, to seduce its public. And doing a reasonable job. Sure, a lot of cliches and the reality of teacher work gives many good points. But it is not more than one of many easy commedies with familiar names and sketches of performances and script for a not too high form of entertainment. So, teacher, fight and few drops of sentimental scenes. Old recipe, decent product.
The Movie You Watch if You Just Want to Laugh
leddyfzm7 May 2018
This is the kind of movie you watch if you just want to laugh. It's the movie you see when you have a bunch of friends over on a Friday night and you want to unwind.
Will it win an Oscar? Not a chance, but it isn't horrible. The plot is pretty transparent and some of the acting is meh, but it's watchable.
This just isn't the kind of movie that a critic even has to review, in my opinion. It'll never win over a critic who takes themselves too seriously.
I agree with another reviewer that said this movie tries a little too hard to be funny, but you end up having a really great time watching it. It does have hilarious moments that make it worth watching.
Will it win an Oscar? Not a chance, but it isn't horrible. The plot is pretty transparent and some of the acting is meh, but it's watchable.
This just isn't the kind of movie that a critic even has to review, in my opinion. It'll never win over a critic who takes themselves too seriously.
I agree with another reviewer that said this movie tries a little too hard to be funny, but you end up having a really great time watching it. It does have hilarious moments that make it worth watching.
V funny, easy watch
alex_donnelly22 October 2019
Funny stereotypical American humoured movie but a very good one at that. Would usually stay away due to ratings being so low but think some of these so called 'Critics' are expecting something unrealistic and irrelevant to a silly silly comedic movie. Overall very enjoyable to watch.
take your money and burn it
fpox319 February 2017
this is by far on the top 3 'worst movies i've ever seen'. i don't usually write a review but i have to because i feel like someone grabbed me money & time.
listen. first of all, i don't put comedy movies in the same 'judging eye' as other genres. sometimes you want to laugh, just enjoy the cinema with friend so don't think I'm comparing it to pulp fiction.
this movie is so bizarre and not funny i think anyone with dignity to the movie making and not "we want money no matter what" should fire anyone connected to this one.
script- no one in the WORLD talks like that, act like that, and those unrealistic moments so cringy i was embarrassed. "plot" - error 404 funny - didn't laugh even one time and all the theater was quiet 99% of the time.
listen. first of all, i don't put comedy movies in the same 'judging eye' as other genres. sometimes you want to laugh, just enjoy the cinema with friend so don't think I'm comparing it to pulp fiction.
this movie is so bizarre and not funny i think anyone with dignity to the movie making and not "we want money no matter what" should fire anyone connected to this one.
script- no one in the WORLD talks like that, act like that, and those unrealistic moments so cringy i was embarrassed. "plot" - error 404 funny - didn't laugh even one time and all the theater was quiet 99% of the time.
I'd Rather Take a Fist to the Face Than Ever Watch This Again
RustyShacklefordd28 February 2017
Fist Fight is a movie that I really did want to find some sort of enjoyment in. I'm a pretty big fan of Charlie Day and really would like to see him get some bigger roles outside of It's Always Sunny. Yet, there is no denying that Fist Fight is not only a new low for, but also one of the worst studio comedies to ever be released.
The biggest problem with the film itself is buying the premise itself. I understand that this is suppose to be a goofy comedy not meant to be taken too seriously, but there is only so far one can go out into the realm of disbelief before it becomes so implausible it brings us back into reality. Nothing in this film feels authentic or makes sense at all and only as a way for the writers to be able to advance an already stupid plot forward. Not since Identity Thief have I seen a film that bends and disregards so many rules of reality just to advance the story. if the laziness of the plot wasn't annoying enough, every character in the film is extremely unlikable and annoying to the point they feel like complete cartoons.
The other big problem with the film is that it is painfully unfunny. Even in the worst of comedies I can at least find one or two jokes that made me laugh, but I didn't even crack a smile at all during Fist Fight. It's very clear that the actual script for the film itself didn't contain many jokes and that the director/writers are relying on the actors to improvise most of the jokes to fill up the runtime. This results in almost every joke relying on forced profanity and sex gags. It thinks it's being edgy, but the jokes are so weak and tired it just comes off as desperate. Charlie Day is trying his best here, but with nothing to work with he constantly resorts to doing the fast-talking and freaking out shtick that he does in every other show and movie he's in to excess. Ice Cube phones it in playing the exact same role he does in the Jump Street movie (except much less funny) and Jillian Bell plays the stereotypical annoying woman character who constantly says lewd things for a cheap laugh. Even worse is to see Tracy Morgan first big role in a film since his accident gives him absolutely nothing to work with. If there is anything redeeming about Fist Fight at all, the actual fight during the climax is actually much better than one would expect given the rest of the films quality leading up to it, but it's not worth sitting through the rest of the film just to reach those 5 minutes.
Fist Fight marks a new low for major studio comedies in which the rules of reality or thrown out the window only so a plot that makes no sense can exist and decent writing is replaced in favor of improvising whatever swear word or sexual noun can be thought of on the spot. It's excruciating to sit through and a complete embarrassing for everyone involved. It's only 2 months into the year, but Fist Fight is a strong contender for one of if not, the worst movie of 2017.
The biggest problem with the film itself is buying the premise itself. I understand that this is suppose to be a goofy comedy not meant to be taken too seriously, but there is only so far one can go out into the realm of disbelief before it becomes so implausible it brings us back into reality. Nothing in this film feels authentic or makes sense at all and only as a way for the writers to be able to advance an already stupid plot forward. Not since Identity Thief have I seen a film that bends and disregards so many rules of reality just to advance the story. if the laziness of the plot wasn't annoying enough, every character in the film is extremely unlikable and annoying to the point they feel like complete cartoons.
The other big problem with the film is that it is painfully unfunny. Even in the worst of comedies I can at least find one or two jokes that made me laugh, but I didn't even crack a smile at all during Fist Fight. It's very clear that the actual script for the film itself didn't contain many jokes and that the director/writers are relying on the actors to improvise most of the jokes to fill up the runtime. This results in almost every joke relying on forced profanity and sex gags. It thinks it's being edgy, but the jokes are so weak and tired it just comes off as desperate. Charlie Day is trying his best here, but with nothing to work with he constantly resorts to doing the fast-talking and freaking out shtick that he does in every other show and movie he's in to excess. Ice Cube phones it in playing the exact same role he does in the Jump Street movie (except much less funny) and Jillian Bell plays the stereotypical annoying woman character who constantly says lewd things for a cheap laugh. Even worse is to see Tracy Morgan first big role in a film since his accident gives him absolutely nothing to work with. If there is anything redeeming about Fist Fight at all, the actual fight during the climax is actually much better than one would expect given the rest of the films quality leading up to it, but it's not worth sitting through the rest of the film just to reach those 5 minutes.
Fist Fight marks a new low for major studio comedies in which the rules of reality or thrown out the window only so a plot that makes no sense can exist and decent writing is replaced in favor of improvising whatever swear word or sexual noun can be thought of on the spot. It's excruciating to sit through and a complete embarrassing for everyone involved. It's only 2 months into the year, but Fist Fight is a strong contender for one of if not, the worst movie of 2017.
Fist Fight
tr9130 March 2017
Dumb. Stupid. Not to be taken seriously.
That's how I would describe Fist Fight, but if you just want a quick laugh then this film is worth checking out.
It's hard to analyse a film like this because the plot is ridiculous and so over the top. It's not trying to be anything special so we have to take it for what it is. I done that and end up laughing more than I probably should have done.
The characters are all one dimensional and up to no good. Charlie Day and Ice Cube are both play their usual characters and provide enough laughs throughout the short run time of 80 or so minutes. Jillian Bell was an excellent supporting character. I think the funniest scene was the Father/Daughter sing and dance competition.
Not the funniest film you could wish to see but still enjoyable for a quick laugh. 7/10.
That's how I would describe Fist Fight, but if you just want a quick laugh then this film is worth checking out.
It's hard to analyse a film like this because the plot is ridiculous and so over the top. It's not trying to be anything special so we have to take it for what it is. I done that and end up laughing more than I probably should have done.
The characters are all one dimensional and up to no good. Charlie Day and Ice Cube are both play their usual characters and provide enough laughs throughout the short run time of 80 or so minutes. Jillian Bell was an excellent supporting character. I think the funniest scene was the Father/Daughter sing and dance competition.
Not the funniest film you could wish to see but still enjoyable for a quick laugh. 7/10.
Skip the crass bore that Fist Fight is and go watch Three O'clock High instead
RforFilm21 February 2017
A good film fight depends on how the audience is experiencing it. The majority of the fights from the Rocky series work as we want to see Balboa win the boxing match that he's worked hard training for. The fights from Fight Club are engaging because the film establishes that this works as way to ease some of the tension that Edward Norton had developed within his mundane life. Looking at a bad example, the main battle from Batman V Superman is poor as the movie did not establish enough of a connection with it's audience and failed to give us a good reason for our heroes to fight.
So when a movie like todays is building up to a big fight, then it has to establish some relatable characters and justify the need to brawl. Given that this is school based, the best example is an eighties comedy called Three O'clock High. That one was about students getting ready for a fight after class. It was funny and smart with how it understood how a lot of students would react under the fear and the naive attitude of adults. Now we have two teachers meeting after school in Fist Fight.
It's the last day of high school, which is also prank day. What operates is the high school from hell as teachers and staff are victim to pranks that are so elaborate and insane that real teenagers might see as too much work. English teacher Andy Campbell (played by Charlie Day) is worried that he'll get cut as principal Richard Tyler (played by Dean Norris) is more worried about keeping the budget low. Campbell is also worried about his soon to be born second child and daughter who is dealing with bullying of her own. All Campbell wants is to get through this day without much trouble.
Campbell's day is thrown into chaos by history teacher Ron Strickland (played by Ice Cube) who is not having any lip from the students. When a prank involving a television disrupts the class, Strickland goes crazy with a hatchet chopping a desk in half. When the principal demands answers, Campbell reveals that it was all Strickland, causing the history teacher to lose his job. In response, Strickland tells Campbell that their going to fight after school. Campbell does everything he can to get out of it, even talking to coach Crawford (played by Tracy Morgan) and guidance counselor Holly (played by Jillian Bell) for advice. Of course, the fight is on.
What's interesting is that the movie tries to convoy the message about underfunded schools. It's a good message if Fist Fight wasn't so hypocritical of itself. The main problem is that everyone in this movie is an awful human being. I don't mean all the main characters, but everyone! Aside that every student seems to be a serial killer, both Charlie Day and Ice Cube are both unsympathetic and too unlikable to want to follow for an entire movie. You know your in for a bad movie when the running time is only and hour and a half, yet it feels like three.
What's worse is that until the fight happens in the end, your stuck with these people for a long time. They try hard to throw every joke they can from student pranks an F –bomb or a meth joke, but very little of them did anything for me. I mentioned before in my review for Sausage Party that you have to offer more then shock jokes and foul language. Fist Fight falls in that same category, but is far worse for being a failure as a comedy and trying to say something about the American school system.
I'll give this two bloody school gym mat out of ten. Despite some committed performances and a fight that does have some good moments, I really cannot recommend Fist Fight. Take your milk money and go rent Three O'clock High instead. It's the same, but funnier and smarter. This is one fight that won't end with any winner.
So when a movie like todays is building up to a big fight, then it has to establish some relatable characters and justify the need to brawl. Given that this is school based, the best example is an eighties comedy called Three O'clock High. That one was about students getting ready for a fight after class. It was funny and smart with how it understood how a lot of students would react under the fear and the naive attitude of adults. Now we have two teachers meeting after school in Fist Fight.
It's the last day of high school, which is also prank day. What operates is the high school from hell as teachers and staff are victim to pranks that are so elaborate and insane that real teenagers might see as too much work. English teacher Andy Campbell (played by Charlie Day) is worried that he'll get cut as principal Richard Tyler (played by Dean Norris) is more worried about keeping the budget low. Campbell is also worried about his soon to be born second child and daughter who is dealing with bullying of her own. All Campbell wants is to get through this day without much trouble.
Campbell's day is thrown into chaos by history teacher Ron Strickland (played by Ice Cube) who is not having any lip from the students. When a prank involving a television disrupts the class, Strickland goes crazy with a hatchet chopping a desk in half. When the principal demands answers, Campbell reveals that it was all Strickland, causing the history teacher to lose his job. In response, Strickland tells Campbell that their going to fight after school. Campbell does everything he can to get out of it, even talking to coach Crawford (played by Tracy Morgan) and guidance counselor Holly (played by Jillian Bell) for advice. Of course, the fight is on.
What's interesting is that the movie tries to convoy the message about underfunded schools. It's a good message if Fist Fight wasn't so hypocritical of itself. The main problem is that everyone in this movie is an awful human being. I don't mean all the main characters, but everyone! Aside that every student seems to be a serial killer, both Charlie Day and Ice Cube are both unsympathetic and too unlikable to want to follow for an entire movie. You know your in for a bad movie when the running time is only and hour and a half, yet it feels like three.
What's worse is that until the fight happens in the end, your stuck with these people for a long time. They try hard to throw every joke they can from student pranks an F –bomb or a meth joke, but very little of them did anything for me. I mentioned before in my review for Sausage Party that you have to offer more then shock jokes and foul language. Fist Fight falls in that same category, but is far worse for being a failure as a comedy and trying to say something about the American school system.
I'll give this two bloody school gym mat out of ten. Despite some committed performances and a fight that does have some good moments, I really cannot recommend Fist Fight. Take your milk money and go rent Three O'clock High instead. It's the same, but funnier and smarter. This is one fight that won't end with any winner.
Ignore the critics
Alileos3 October 2017
Highly suggest if you want a good laugh. The movie was funny and really good. It wasn't meant to be serious at all and I think that all the people crying about it are 60 year old single old farts who don't know what humour is. It's not meant to be realistic at all if it's a comedy movie for entertainment. It's not a damn documentary.
Tired of all these "critics" who act as if only Oscae nominated movies that are inspiring and touch your heart can be considered good. This was a great watch.
Tired of all these "critics" who act as if only Oscae nominated movies that are inspiring and touch your heart can be considered good. This was a great watch.
Stupid but funny
Joshumms15 December 2021
Bout the dumbest movie I've ever seen but thankfully it knows what it is. I mean it's a stupid comedy, I can't really hate it if I laughed and I don't think going deeper into the movie is worth it. And the fist fight was surprisingly not terribly made. I would recommend this if you know this is your kind of movie.
Awful. If you're watching, it does not get better. I LOVE stupid-funny and this was terrible.
professorroyhinkley22 July 2017
This cast - this should be amazing. We were hoping for 21 Jump Street funny. The critics hate it - that must be good, right? NO! But the trailer was funny? Yes, but the trailer was much better than the movie.
It's terrible. It really is. If you are watching it and just checked to see if there is hope - we watched it until the end for you. There is not. Give up and turn on something else.
Interestingly, a few of the high ratings here do not seem to have seen the actual movie; the 1- and 2-star reviews are right on.
And - could we possibly work in more f-bombs? I don't know if it's possible.
How do movies this bad get made and released?!?
It's terrible. It really is. If you are watching it and just checked to see if there is hope - we watched it until the end for you. There is not. Give up and turn on something else.
Interestingly, a few of the high ratings here do not seem to have seen the actual movie; the 1- and 2-star reviews are right on.
And - could we possibly work in more f-bombs? I don't know if it's possible.
How do movies this bad get made and released?!?
Hilarious!!!! Ignore the bad reviews..This is funny as all heck!!!!
kricul29 May 2017
Ice Cube...Amazing! Makes me think about TGIF!!! and Charles Day who?!?!? Wow! What a funny funny guy! Spot on on all the lines!! Jokes great! and the Woman Counselor picking up the guy students!! Hahah! and Tracey morgan..and the End credits?!?!?!? Paying props to old school hip hop?!?!? Are you kidding me..?!?!
I have concluded that if people have lost their sense of humor these days. If you don't like this one, well......
I have concluded that if people have lost their sense of humor these days. If you don't like this one, well......
Fun if you don't take the plot too seriously.
sagir-khan13 February 2019
Fist Fight is not a good film. It's a fun, silly little film. But not particularly a good one.
The premise of the film is silly, the overall plot makes no sense, characters don't make sense and the ending makes no sense. Suffice to say it's not a film you should watch for the story.
No, Fist Fight is something you go watch for the laughs. Save it for a rainy day when the dramas are too deep, the horrors are too dark and you don't want to make much sense of anything.
Fist Fight has some decent acting, funny characters, funny moments and a little message that if you get pushed around you need to push back. So if you don't think too deep about the story, this film will surprise you.
I think giving it a 7 is too high and a 6 too low, sadly there's no 6.5 so I'm going with a 6/10.
The premise of the film is silly, the overall plot makes no sense, characters don't make sense and the ending makes no sense. Suffice to say it's not a film you should watch for the story.
No, Fist Fight is something you go watch for the laughs. Save it for a rainy day when the dramas are too deep, the horrors are too dark and you don't want to make much sense of anything.
Fist Fight has some decent acting, funny characters, funny moments and a little message that if you get pushed around you need to push back. So if you don't think too deep about the story, this film will surprise you.
I think giving it a 7 is too high and a 6 too low, sadly there's no 6.5 so I'm going with a 6/10.
Fist Fight was mostly a waste of time but not too painful if one sticks to the end...
tavm22 February 2017
Just watched this with my movie theatre-working friend. I wasn't really looking forward to this but since it was only gonna run 90 minutes, I decided to go ahead and watch it with him. It wasn't really worth that much of a look but after a awhile, I didn't think it was too painful to watch. But there's not really all that much that I thought was funny though my friend was mostly the opposite. I guess the language and the dirty jokes and scenes was just something I just managed to tolerate. And I also thought much of the plot was just pointless to the point that for the most part, I did feel I was wasting my time watching it. But since it was so short and I was partly amused at some scenes, Fist Fight wasn't a complete waste of time. But I don't think I ever want to watch this again, that's for sure!
Painful to Watch
larrys35 June 2017
As many reviewers have already noted this movie is terribly unfunny and can be painful to watch. Being crass and crude in a film can work if done in a certain way, but this one was just awful. For me, there were only two positives here. One was the performance of Jillian Bell as the teacher Holly, and the other was that the movie did eventually end. I would say try and steer as far away as possible from this turkey.
Just a bog standard comedy film
danielmanson20 December 2019
Average film describes this perfectly. There's a few laughs lobbed in there, a relatively simple plot (which is what you want with a comedy film) and funny characters.
There's nothing too much to shout about it in all honesty. Probs a nice easy watch on a plane or hungover. Charlie Day is great in it. It is what it is
There's nothing too much to shout about it in all honesty. Probs a nice easy watch on a plane or hungover. Charlie Day is great in it. It is what it is
"Fist Fight"- Likable, charismatic performances cannot save this woefully unfunny comedy. The heckler in my audience was funnier than the film...
TedStixonAKAMaximumMadness1 March 2017
So, I just got back from seeing "Fist Fight"... And already, I'm struggling to remember a single thing about it. Other of course than the fact that it's a comedy that somehow didn't illicit a single laugh from me, and only was able to conjure up the most half-hearted of occasional chuckles and smirks.
It's a truly sad state of affairs when a heckler popped up in the sparse audience at my screening, and he was genuinely so much funnier than the film, that I didn't even bother reporting him to the staff. And neither did the only other person who was in the theater with us. Yes, it's a shame, but "Fist Fight" is a dreadfully dry and humorless film, filled to burst with top-notch comedic performers doing the best they can with a stale and trite script and bland, flavorless direction. It's frankly shocking just how little life there is to the film and how badly is squanders just about every single attempt at making a joke or setting up a good running gag. The excellent Charlie Day, likable Ice Cube, gorgeous Christina Hendricks and amusing Jillian Bell all deserve a much better film than director Richie Keen and his trio of screenwriters are able to muster up here.
Day stars as High School English teacher Andy Campbell, a nice guy whose a bit of a pushover, as he contends with a series of personal conflicts on the last day of the school year. This includes infamous senior pranks, his wife's pregnancy, the lingering threat of potentially losing his job due to lay-offs... and of course the wrath of Strickland (Ice Cube), a vicious and strict History teacher who he accidentally gets fired and who swears vengeance by challenging Campbell to a fight after school. And so the race is on for Campbell to try and figure out a way to stop the fight from happening, while he also juggles the other issues that the day will bring him.
To get it out of the way, the cast is probably the only good thing about the film. Day is a lot of fun as our lead and Ice Cube makes for a satisfying enough foil, even though the role is written to be so far over-the-top as to be ridiculous. Co-stars Jillian Bell and Christina Hendricks are a bit of fun, both both are very under-used and despite prominently being featured in the advertising, both get maybe 5 minutes of screen time. (And I'm pretty sure Hendricks only really has about three lines of dialog, and other than that basically just stands around for cheap, tactless eye-candy.) And I will admit that without spoiling it, there is one stand-out sequence in the final act that almost got me because it came relatively unexpected.
But other than that... the film's just atrociously and aggressively dull.
From the opening minutes, you basically learn the film only has two real "jokes" that it uses over and over- that being the repetitive and cliché "senior pranks" and Ice Cube becoming increasingly violent in such a way that it's more disturbing and troubling than funny. When one of the main recurring jokes of the film is the fact that the students have drawn male reproductive organs all over the school for our leads to occasionally stumble onto about once every ten minutes, you know you're in for a painful ride. It's tasteless Middle-School humor that anyone over the age of 20 will likely just find repulsive and groan- inducing. There's a reason most of us stop doing that sort-of thing once we reach adulthood... it's just not that funny once you grow up.
And Cube's character is written to be so hateful and heinous, you can't even really laugh at his behavior. When his first major scene involves him brandishing an ax and threatening a student with it, and he spends most of his time threatening Day with lazy justifications for his actions, you lose all sympathy for him. Oh, and the film also makes our "hero" out to be so much of a coward that you end up hating him, too. Kinda hard to sympathize with a lead who is such a measly little worm, he does some really immoral and terrible things to get out of the fight. Add to that some laughably terrible old tropes and painfully predictable story-threads from the DOA script and director Keen's complete lack of creative vision, and you have yourself a recipe for disaster. It's not even a good-looking film. I can't even give it that credit.
If you're 13-years-old and think that dirty anatomical sketches and people screaming about sex and punching each other is comedic gold, you'll probably love this film. If you're at all a discerning and responsible film-goer, you best stay far away from "Fist Fight." This is just a putrid, shockingly unfunny endeavor.
I give it a terrible 2 out of 10. Avoid.
It's a truly sad state of affairs when a heckler popped up in the sparse audience at my screening, and he was genuinely so much funnier than the film, that I didn't even bother reporting him to the staff. And neither did the only other person who was in the theater with us. Yes, it's a shame, but "Fist Fight" is a dreadfully dry and humorless film, filled to burst with top-notch comedic performers doing the best they can with a stale and trite script and bland, flavorless direction. It's frankly shocking just how little life there is to the film and how badly is squanders just about every single attempt at making a joke or setting up a good running gag. The excellent Charlie Day, likable Ice Cube, gorgeous Christina Hendricks and amusing Jillian Bell all deserve a much better film than director Richie Keen and his trio of screenwriters are able to muster up here.
Day stars as High School English teacher Andy Campbell, a nice guy whose a bit of a pushover, as he contends with a series of personal conflicts on the last day of the school year. This includes infamous senior pranks, his wife's pregnancy, the lingering threat of potentially losing his job due to lay-offs... and of course the wrath of Strickland (Ice Cube), a vicious and strict History teacher who he accidentally gets fired and who swears vengeance by challenging Campbell to a fight after school. And so the race is on for Campbell to try and figure out a way to stop the fight from happening, while he also juggles the other issues that the day will bring him.
To get it out of the way, the cast is probably the only good thing about the film. Day is a lot of fun as our lead and Ice Cube makes for a satisfying enough foil, even though the role is written to be so far over-the-top as to be ridiculous. Co-stars Jillian Bell and Christina Hendricks are a bit of fun, both both are very under-used and despite prominently being featured in the advertising, both get maybe 5 minutes of screen time. (And I'm pretty sure Hendricks only really has about three lines of dialog, and other than that basically just stands around for cheap, tactless eye-candy.) And I will admit that without spoiling it, there is one stand-out sequence in the final act that almost got me because it came relatively unexpected.
But other than that... the film's just atrociously and aggressively dull.
From the opening minutes, you basically learn the film only has two real "jokes" that it uses over and over- that being the repetitive and cliché "senior pranks" and Ice Cube becoming increasingly violent in such a way that it's more disturbing and troubling than funny. When one of the main recurring jokes of the film is the fact that the students have drawn male reproductive organs all over the school for our leads to occasionally stumble onto about once every ten minutes, you know you're in for a painful ride. It's tasteless Middle-School humor that anyone over the age of 20 will likely just find repulsive and groan- inducing. There's a reason most of us stop doing that sort-of thing once we reach adulthood... it's just not that funny once you grow up.
And Cube's character is written to be so hateful and heinous, you can't even really laugh at his behavior. When his first major scene involves him brandishing an ax and threatening a student with it, and he spends most of his time threatening Day with lazy justifications for his actions, you lose all sympathy for him. Oh, and the film also makes our "hero" out to be so much of a coward that you end up hating him, too. Kinda hard to sympathize with a lead who is such a measly little worm, he does some really immoral and terrible things to get out of the fight. Add to that some laughably terrible old tropes and painfully predictable story-threads from the DOA script and director Keen's complete lack of creative vision, and you have yourself a recipe for disaster. It's not even a good-looking film. I can't even give it that credit.
If you're 13-years-old and think that dirty anatomical sketches and people screaming about sex and punching each other is comedic gold, you'll probably love this film. If you're at all a discerning and responsible film-goer, you best stay far away from "Fist Fight." This is just a putrid, shockingly unfunny endeavor.
I give it a terrible 2 out of 10. Avoid.
Funny movie
ronbell-239848 July 2019
It's funny...yep. That's all I got.
johnplocar13 May 2017
I actually had a pretty good time with this one. I wasn't too sure how I was going to feel going strictly by the trailers; from the trailers I wasn't particularly all that humored by it, but now after seeing the movie I enjoyed myself pretty well. The movie is about one teacher (Charlie Day) being at odds with another teacher (Ice Cube) to the point where Cube challenges Day to a fist fight to take place at the end of the school day. From start to finish, this is basically a shenanigans movie that would have starred Rodney Dangerfield back in the 1980s and in that regard I found this movie to be pretty funny. I liked the nonsensical, wacky nature of this school that seems to hold almost no consequences for any form of radical behavior much like what could be seen in movies like "Back to School", "Caddyshack", "Spring Break", or "Hollywood Knights". "Fist Fight" through and through is a break from logic to bring an amusing and goofy world where Charlie Day and Ice Cube can have a blast being silly in. Most of the jokes land, sometimes they fall a little flat but never to the degree that I was irritated. The comedic timing of everyone is pretty good, the two leads (Day and Cube) handle the material well. The supporting characters played by Jillian Bell, Dean Norris, and Christina Hendricks I think got some of the biggest laughs out of me. The editor knew, for the most part, how long to let jokes keep going and when to cut them off. In a lot of modern comedies the editor will leave in too much adlibbing and stretch jokes out for too long that they are no longer funny. Sometimes it works, other times the most is left with full scenes of "line-o-rama" that tries to force jokes to last longer than they should and it's like they're beating a dead horse with another dead horse. This movie doesn't do that, sometimes jokes will go on a little longer than necessary, but not by much and usually the movie picks up immediately after so I never got bored or angered by it at any point. And one other nitpick that I have with this movie, really that's all I have on this is a few tiny nitpicks, is that a lot of the students are shown to be terrible little monsters yet most of them never get a satisfying comeuppance. Seriously, most if not all of the teens are terrible little s**t bags that I was hoping to see get what's coming to them but unfortunately the movie only gives a couple of 'okay' paybacks but I was wanting so much more. Other than that I don't have anymore real gripes with "Fist Fight". If you're looking for a fun, pay-no- mind comedy then this is a decent enough sit. It's nothing extraordinary, but it's fine and if you don't mind raunchy comedies then this movie should hold your attention alright. Maybe I'm giving this a little bit of a free pass because the last comedy I watched was "Weekend at Bernie's II"...which was freaking dreadful, so maybe if I hadn't have just seen that last night this movie wouldn't have entertained me as much. I don't know, but I still say that I think it's worth a watch and it will deliver a few good laughs.
Horrible.
alexander-iv26 February 2017
Just horrible.
There's not much more to say about this. But IMDb has a five-line minimum for reviews, so I have to fill it up with something here.
I guess I can add that there's some sort of message in there somewhere, about participation trophies and taking responsibility for one's actions. But it's buried so far beneath unfunny dick jokes (yes, there is such a thing) and crass, endless swearing that was added just for the sake of swearing.
I never thought I would say this, but this may actually be a worse movie than "Grown Ups". Incredible.
Final words: You will be better off spending your time watching paint dry, and don't ever consider paying money for this garbage.
There's not much more to say about this. But IMDb has a five-line minimum for reviews, so I have to fill it up with something here.
I guess I can add that there's some sort of message in there somewhere, about participation trophies and taking responsibility for one's actions. But it's buried so far beneath unfunny dick jokes (yes, there is such a thing) and crass, endless swearing that was added just for the sake of swearing.
I never thought I would say this, but this may actually be a worse movie than "Grown Ups". Incredible.
Final words: You will be better off spending your time watching paint dry, and don't ever consider paying money for this garbage.
Tries too hard to be funny
Gordon-1128 March 2017
This film tells the story of a nice teacher who teaches in an ineffectively run school. He encounters a lot of violent pranks during the last day of school. To top that off, he is fired from work, misses his daughter's talent show and gets challenged to a fist fight.
The story details the very bad day of a teacher, which could be funny. However, the whole experience is too over the top to be believable. I honestly can't believe that students can be allowed to behave irresponsibly and violently. It's basically anarchy, and I can't believe teachers actually stay in this environment to be bullied and physically harmed. It's just not funny.
The only funny scene is the daughter's talent show, but that is a short scene. I think "Fist Fight" goes too far when trying to be funny, and ends up being unfunny.
The story details the very bad day of a teacher, which could be funny. However, the whole experience is too over the top to be believable. I honestly can't believe that students can be allowed to behave irresponsibly and violently. It's basically anarchy, and I can't believe teachers actually stay in this environment to be bullied and physically harmed. It's just not funny.
The only funny scene is the daughter's talent show, but that is a short scene. I think "Fist Fight" goes too far when trying to be funny, and ends up being unfunny.
Ice Cube vs. Charlie Day is nothing but awesome.
subxerogravity18 February 2017
Born to play this role, Ice Cube is a hard as nails, too gangsta for the room teacher, who went too overboard in disciplining a student on accountability, and when Charlie Day, who plays a wimp of a man, rats him out in order to save his job, it's on like Donkey Kong, after school.
There was a similar movie back in the 80s called Three 0'Clock High that was pretty good, but Fist Fight gives the story a unique twist by having the Teachers battle it out rather than the students, which in Fist fight oddly is a strong symbol of how good awful the American school system is and how that could cause frustration for those good teachers who want to educate.
And its real cool that the movie has a message and all. Good comedy comes from a real place, and the comedy is real good. Charlie Day works well as a straight man. He's a square who gets big laughs from conversations with the zany cast of characters played by some funny people. Like Jillian Bell who plays a nice teacher with a meth habit and sees potential in hooking up with one of the legal senors in her class, and my man Tracy Morgan whose has a love for his student's mothers and tries to teach Day to stand and fight like a man, even thought he's going to get murdered.
But Ice Cube, he earn that top billing. This was the dream role he built up to. Literally somewhere right in the middle of Dough boy from Boyz in the Hood and Nick Parsons from Are We There Yet? Just an great collaboration of what cube is made of.
The movie is filled with a bunch of Laugh out Loud moments designated for a Rated R crowd, and it leads up to an awesome battle royal between Cube and Day that's just hands down entertaining.
Fist Fight is a knock out.
http://cinemagardens.com
There was a similar movie back in the 80s called Three 0'Clock High that was pretty good, but Fist Fight gives the story a unique twist by having the Teachers battle it out rather than the students, which in Fist fight oddly is a strong symbol of how good awful the American school system is and how that could cause frustration for those good teachers who want to educate.
And its real cool that the movie has a message and all. Good comedy comes from a real place, and the comedy is real good. Charlie Day works well as a straight man. He's a square who gets big laughs from conversations with the zany cast of characters played by some funny people. Like Jillian Bell who plays a nice teacher with a meth habit and sees potential in hooking up with one of the legal senors in her class, and my man Tracy Morgan whose has a love for his student's mothers and tries to teach Day to stand and fight like a man, even thought he's going to get murdered.
But Ice Cube, he earn that top billing. This was the dream role he built up to. Literally somewhere right in the middle of Dough boy from Boyz in the Hood and Nick Parsons from Are We There Yet? Just an great collaboration of what cube is made of.
The movie is filled with a bunch of Laugh out Loud moments designated for a Rated R crowd, and it leads up to an awesome battle royal between Cube and Day that's just hands down entertaining.
Fist Fight is a knock out.
http://cinemagardens.com
Not very exciting at all.... bore fest
acyple2 March 2017
Im a big fan of charlie day he is a good actor. But this movie didn't leave much for him. The movie its self had nothing going ice cube being his usual bad ass while charlie day runs scared. The movie is slow and not really that funny at all. There's no point in the movie where it takes off its just a slow past from start to finish. Lets just say also the talent show is really stupid and way overboard.
Sorry charlie pretty crap movie not funny. I wouldn't say crap for one star but i wouldn't watch it again and i would tell people to go out of their way
Sorry charlie pretty crap movie not funny. I wouldn't say crap for one star but i wouldn't watch it again and i would tell people to go out of their way
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