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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.
SWITCH.
‘The Art of Self-Defense’ is a truly funny, dark experience that will polarise audiences, hopefully leaving most of them satisfied. Just try not to think about it too much. - Ashley Teresa Read Ashley's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-the-art-of-self-defense-a-satire-as-pitch-black-as-a-karate-belt
Gimly
I went in expecting mumblecore, but got more of a Wes Anderson (which, to be fair, a primary influence of mumblecore). Wes Anderson almost always has violence in his movies, but probably nothing so brutal as _The Art of Self-Defense_. I thought that the whole movie would essentially be setting up Eisenberg as an awkward, meek nerd, who at the very end would go uber-violent, and the joke that they bothered to make a movie for would essentially be "You didn't think this guy would punch very good but then he does". Happy to say, I was wrong. Not only does Eisenberg punch pretty good on actually more than one occasion, there's also a story in _The Art of Self-Defense_ as well, which I was not expecting. Now I still didn't think it was very good, and I definitely didn't think it was very funny, but my very low expectations were exceeded, so in the end I'm actually moderately happy with this one. _Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole._
The Art of Self-Defense (2019) is a comedy, drama, thriller film directed by Riley Stearns, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Alessandro Nivola, Imogen Poots. The film runs 104 minutes, carries a R classification, holds a 6.6/10 audience score across 876 votes. Viewers can check regional availability across Rakuten TV, Apple TV, MovistarTV, Claro video, and more, alongside its official trailer on MovieFlix.
The Art of Self-Defense is listed across Rakuten TV, Apple TV, MovistarTV, Claro video, Prime Video, maxdome Store, and 33 additional services depending on your country. Use the regional availability selector on this MovieFlix page to compare streaming, rental, and purchase options in your territory, or watch the official trailer above.
The Art of Self-Defense has a runtime of 1h 44m (104 minutes) and is rated R. Classification standards can vary by country and release format.
The Art of Self-Defense was directed by Riley Stearns. Key cast members include Jesse Eisenberg (Casey), Alessandro Nivola (Sensei), Imogen Poots (Anna), Steve Terada (Thomas), David Zellner (Henry).
The Art of Self-Defense was released on July 12, 2019. Production countries include United States of America, with spoken dialogue in English, Español, Français, Deutsch.
