It's easy see why The Foot Fist Way snared a cult following at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The low-budget comedy, the first release from Will Ferrell and Andy McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions, is unpretentious and crudely funny. It focuses on a clueless Taek Kwon Do instructor who runs a school in a North Carolina strip mall and suffers from delusions of grandeur that crumble when he learns of his wife's indiscretions.

The audience, of course, knows from the start that Fred ''Master of the Demo'' Simmons (Danny R. McBride) is a self-absorbed idiot who may proudly possess a fourth-degree black belt but doesn't own quite enough brains to discover the joys of self-awareness. He's rude and thoughtless, sort of like Michael Scott from The Office, only without Michael's elusive shreds of humanity.

Fred does have a weakness, however: He's a gushing fan of the martial-arts stylings of film star Chuck ''the Truck'' Wallace (Ben Best), whom Fred hopes to lure to his school's trials.

The Foot Fist Way was reportedly shot in 19 days, a revelation that's hardly surprising. The film's overall lack of polish provides a certain anti-Hollywood charm, but it also underscores the fact that a film needs more than humble roots to be special. It's more amusing than not, but some scenes outlast the humor in them.

Mockumentary style has been overused in recent years -- blame Christopher Guest if you must -- and has become something of an easy sell to aspiring filmmakers. Create a character who doesn't realize he's a jerk, let him do his thing, and the audience will laugh at him. (It worked for Ferrell and Napoleon Dynamite, anyway.) Throw in a bit of redemption for the loser in the end. And so Fred earns a small triumph or two, via the teachings of the tenants of Taek Kwon Do and the formula of indie comedy filmmaking.

Cast: Danny R. McBride, Ben Best, Mary Jane Bostic, Jody Hill.

Director: Jody Hill.

Screenwriters: Ben Best, Jody Hill, Danny R. McBride.

Producers: Erin Gates, Robbie Hill, Jody Hill.

A Paramount Vantage release. Running time: 85 minutes. Strong language, some sexual content. Playing at: Miami-Dade only: Sunset Place.

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