The Art of Self-Defense

2019 • 104 minutes
3.6
133 reviews
83%
Tomatometer
R
Rating
Eligible
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About this movie

Casey (Jesse Eisenberg) just can't seem to win. Attacked on the street, humiliated at his job and even emasculated by his dog, he joins a local karate dojo led by the enigmatic Sensei (Alessandro Nivola) to learn how to defend himself. In the midst of his training, Casey becomes friendly with a female instructor (Imogen Poots) and soon realizes he is caught in a bizarre world of outcasts, fraternal rituals and hilarious hyper-masculinity.
Rating
R

Ratings and reviews

3.6
133 reviews
Bernard
October 26, 2019
I don't understand why it is a "comedy". I never laughed or smiled or considered it clever. A mild slightly dark satire of sorts at first then nonsensical and then needlessly and pointlessly violent. I was surprised that it held my attention even though it was rather slow moving. The violence of the film and of the ending left me disgusted and I was sorry I rented it. Overall the film made little or no sense.
36 people found this review helpful
D K
October 21, 2019
A comedy??? This movie is as funny as colonoscopy. Literally every bit of it is less entertaining than loading dishes into a dishwasher. Please, please give me my money back so I can donate it to a charity.
Alex MacDonell
November 1, 2019
This movie wasted my precious time, the base of the movie was about karate however the plot is about gun violence, you cant simply change the rules even if there aren't any, the plot is dumb don't watch 0/10 would not recommend
11 people found this review helpful