 STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED |
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| FILM DETAILS | Certificate
15 | | Cast
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Tim Allen
Emily Mortimer
Alice Braga
Joe Mantegna
Ricky Jay
Max Martini. | | Directors
David Mamet. | | Screenwriters
David Mamet. | | Running Time
99 minutes |
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Redbelt (15) Plot
Mixed-martial-arts instructor Mike Terry (Ejiofor) has money problems. He could earn $50,000 in a competition, but honour precludes him from fighting for money. Then a series of chance encounters leaves him no choice. Can he win with integrity intact?Review
Movie fans have long pondered the question: what if David Mamet remade The Karate Kid? Well, Redbelt is as close as the master wordsmith is ever going to get, which is to say that it’s not so much wax on, wax off as it is wax lyrical. For, as one might expect from Mamet, even in a movie about fighting, much of the combat is of the verbal kind.
For a while now, Mamet’s cinematic output has been less about provocation - as his theatrical outings so often are - and more about the art of deception, and about the pleasure to be derived from placing a series of seemingly insurmountable obstacles in front of a dogged and determined character. Redbelt is no exception.
At its centre is that dogged and determined individual, Mike Terry (Ejiofor), a soldier-turned-martial arts instructor for whom honour is everything. Around him swirls an array of shady characters, from Tim Allen’s jaded movie star, whom Mike protects in a bar fight, to Mamet lucky charm Ricky Jay as an unscrupulous fight promoter (is there any other kind?) whose interactions seem entirely random. Yet, as with the likes of Spartan and The Spanish Prisoner, nothing is as it seems and these disparate strands will come together to leave Terry teetering on the brink of a fate worse than death: moral compromise. But as he seems fond of reminding us with Uncle Ben-esque regularity, there is always an escape.
Redbelt - a reference to the highest honour attainable in mixed martial arts - shares thematic ground with the sorely underrated Spartan (in fact, it also shares an ending which relies on a conveniently placed camera crew): both are examinations and celebrations of men out of time, whose codes don’t mesh with the harsh realities of the modern world. This film, though, is a little heavier on the philosophy of the noble fighter, though Mamet’s great skill is in burying this in a slew of subplots and story strands, so that it never seems like pretension or preaching.
Standing out in a cracking cast, Ejiofor is electric as a man being slowly driven to breaking point - and when that point comes, it’s enthralling and moving, proving that, even for David Mamet, actions can speak louder than words.
Verdict
Not vintage Mamet - the dialogue isn’t up to quotable snuff - but it still packs a decent punch thanks to Ejiofor’s solid performance.
Reviewer: Chris Hewitt
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Average user rating for Redbelt
| Brilliant | | | This movie was very overlooked and is really a hidden gem with a fantastic performance by Chiewetel Ejiofor and great supporting turns by Alice Braga, Emily Mortimor and Tim Allen. Superbly written and directed by David Mamet, this takes unexpected twists and looks at things from many angles. Great fight scenes, good drama and very clever. Look out for the Japanese magician - he got skills!! ... Read More
| | | Big Braveheart About me | | 14:14, 23 October 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Great movie | | | Terrific performance from Ejiofor (he was great in Serenity too). Loved the first hour, the twists and turns, the way Mamet brings it all together is wonderfully sly. I found the ending to be a surprise, a good one though, the scene where Ejiofor takes out a string of security staff is a joy! ... Read More
| | | tysmuse About me | | 23:02, 13 August 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Redbelt | | | Good film with lots of classic Mamet elements. Great work by Ejiofor (crime he isn't a bigger star) and Allen. Great fight scenes. ... Read More
| | | lynnshep About me | | 15:13, 29 November 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Redbelt | | | Good film with lots of classic Mamet elements. Great work by Ejiofor (crime he isn't a bigger star) and Allen. Great fight scenes. ... Read More
| | | lynnshep About me | | 15:13, 29 November 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Good performances, awful story | | | Really enjoyed this, was surprised how much I did actually!
You can read my full review over here:
godisinthetvzine.co.uk/content/content_detail.php?id=27 65&type=Film ... Read More
| | | kingoftheducks About me | | 21:27, 04 October 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Good performances, awful story | | | Disjointed would be the best way to describe this . ... Read More
| | | k_soze About me | | 15:35, 02 October 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Phenomenal | | | Seriously enjoyed it.I don't really want to dissect the movie just yet to be honest, for the film, like Ejiofor's character, is afflicted with a purity rarely seen in cinema these days.
Brilliant. Absolutely bloody brilliant. ... Read More
| | | Paxton About me | | 02:29, 26 September 2008 | Report This Post | |
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