Fist Fight

I will say this right up front so that you understand where I am coming from as a reviewer. I will watch anything with Charlie Day in it. I've been a fan of his since It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia started through Pacific Rim, Horrible Bosses, Horrible Bosses 2, and now Fist Fight. There is just something about him that never fails to crack me up. That being said, Fist Fight is a total rip off of Three O'Clock High.

Andy Campbell (played by Charlie Day) is an English teacher at Roosevelt High, a school filled with some of the most undisciplined and wild kids ever and to make things even worse, it's the last day of school. He's asked by fellow teacher Strickland (played by Ice Cube) to help fix the A.V equipment in his classroom, which he does. When they discover the problem is a student in the class turning the power off on the T.V with an app on his cellphone, Strickland goes postal and busts up the desk with a fire axe. When Andy admits to the Principal what happened, Strickland challenges him to a fist fight in the school parking lot after school at 3 o'clock. Now, with the help of the school guidance counselor Holly (played by Jillian Bell) and the Gym Teacher Coach Crawford (played by Tracy Morgan), he has to figure out a way to get out of it by 3 o'clock as the hours tick down to the increasingly inevitable fight.

There is so much about this film that felt familiar to the original film (without crediting itself as a remake at all), that I just shook my head throughout. Just about every beat Charlie Day goes through is straight from the earlier film. Perhaps not in the same order and not exactly the same, but still very similar. There are even entire scenes that feel lifted directly from the previous film with only slight adjustments. Now, don't get me wrong, it was at times a very funny film. It was also a very raunchy film that went for the shock gag a little too much. The script, written by Van Robichaux and Evan Susser, has the opportunity to go for some real biting humor about the state of the American Education system but time and again goes for the easy laugh every single time. 

Still, there were moments of hilarity throughout the film. The much discussed talent show scene towards the end of the film was the one true gut busting moment for me. Jillian Bell as Holly was a standout as she is quite possibly the worst Guidance Counselor ever as she openly states she takes drugs and lusts after one of the senior students. She quietly steals nearly every scene she is in. Likewise, Tracy Morgan scores some laughs as the clueless Gym Teacher. Charlie Day delivers as well, showing that wound up anxiety about him as the day wears on that never fails to crack me up. Ice Cube on the other hand pretty much plays the same tough guy character he's been playing since forever with very little variation. 

Overall, Fist Fight, is a sporadically entertaining comedy that never is quite as hysterical as it wants you to think it is. It has a few laughs in it, but not enough to recommend seeing it in the theater. But it'd make okay rainy Saturday viewing but is probably not something particularly memorable. Also, Universal, you might want to call your lawyers. I think you might have a case. They totally ripped off your movie.