Even if its makers won’t outright admit it, Fist Fight, the new comedy starring Charlie Day and Ice Cube, is an unofficial remake of Three O’Clock High, the ‘80s high school comedy about a good-hearted teen who gets challenged to an epic after-school fight by the class bully (who looked older even by ‘80s movie teen standards). The film has since become something of a cult cult classic due to its lovable nature and genuine laughs. Fist Fight updates the proceedings, keeping the central premise the same, but replacing the student fighters with teachers and loading the script with more talented performers than it knows what to do with. If Fist Fight will succeed in anything, it will be in giving notice to the former film and elevating it to the bona fide cult classic status it rightfully deserves.
In Fist Fight, mild-mannered English teacher Andrew Campbell (Charlie Day) arrives on what is probably one of the most turbulent days of his teaching career. His expectant wife is due any day; he has to make it to a recital his young daughter is performing in; it’s the last day at his school, which means an endless series of senior pranks; and the school’s principal (Dean Norris) is calling most of the administration in one-by-one to let them know (due to budget cutbacks) whether or not they will still have jobs come fall. However, when Andrew incurs the wrath of Mr. Strickland (Ice Cube), the school’s toughest, most intimidating teacher, inadvertently getting him fired, the latter challenges him to a fist fight after school at 3 o’clock, sending Andrew into a panic as word quickly spreads throughout the campus.
Even by February standards, Fist Fight is nowhere near a worthy enough comedy to grace what is generally known as the cinematic dumping ground. The humor is as juvenile as can be, with many of the jokes not only failing, but even being recycled and reworked within an inch of their lives almost as if the writers and director are desperately asking the audience, “How about now? Will you laugh at this now?!” While none of Fist Fight is quality comedy, the film’s energy does change as it goes on and the titular fight approaches. The jokes don’t get any better and the “plot” does stall, but there’s a sort of manic momentum that builds which at least keeps things from getting altogether boring.
Many will no doubt be comparing Fist Fight unfavorably to aforementioned film, labeling it a cheap and obvious imitation. Three O’Clock High truly illustrated the fear and helplessness so many kids feel when confronted with the biggest threat any student can hope to face. Its main character was a man on his own, unable to escape his impending doom with everyone surrounding him unable or unwilling to help. The one shining aspect of Fist Fight which proves somewhat admirable is that it essentially features the same character grown up, who thought he had escaped such perils of the high school world. Andrew finds himself lost in the absurdity of the fact that he is a grown man trapped in the kind of situation he thought could never touch him after having entered adulthood. Throughout the course of the film he finds himself lost in the bizarreness of his situation and the realization that the fears you thought it possible to overcome can still come back to haunt you.
Where Fist Fight fails the most is in the way it treats its cast. The film boasts a number of proven talents, each arriving to the production with plenty of fans who delight in their work only to leave most of them stranded with very little to do. Among the biggest victims are Christina Hendricks as an unhinged French teacher, Kumali Nanjiani as the school’s security guard, and Tracy Morgan (in his first post-accident role) as a P.E. coach. While Ice Cube does Ice Cube, most of the heavy lifting rests on Day’s shoulders, which is a shame as his frustrated voice-straining act can only take him so far. If there’s anyone who comes away from Fist Fight with their reputation intact, it’s Gillian Bell as the school’s oversexed, drug-taking guidance counselor. Bell is one of the most skilled comediennes working today, with a pitch perfect delivery and stellar timing that manages to take some truly cringeworthy lines and content and spin them into comic gold.
If there’s one positive, other than Bell’s scene-stealing work, to be taken away from Fist Fight, it’s the homage the film manages to pay to teachers. Both of the main characters are as night and day as they come with regards to personal ideology and approaches to their profession. And yet, there’s no denying that both are utterly dedicated and devoted to their jobs as educators, with one going so far as to actually fight for it. It’s certainly a much-deserved tribute and tip of the hat to those many countless individuals who have chosen the same path in spite of the many setbacks and compromises that exist in that particular field. If only that tribute would have been better.
