Redbelt (2008)
Is there room for principle in Los Angeles? Mike Terry teaches jujitsu and barely makes ends meet. His Brazilian wife, whose family promotes fights, wants to see Mike in the ring making money, but to him competition is degrading. A woman sideswipes Mike's car and then, after an odd sequence of events, shoots out the studio's window. Later that evening, Mike rescues an action movie star in a fistfight at a bar. In return, the actor befriends Mike, gives him a gift, offers him work on his newest film, and introduces Mike's wife to his own - the women initiate business dealings. Then, things go sour all at once, Mike's debts mount, and going into the ring may be his only option.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Strong and Moving!
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Not loving this film was almost enough to make this reviewer forgo movies and go back to comic books (which, they tell me, are now called Graphic Novels, and that tells you how old I am.) The pedigree is to die for. David Mamet is not only considered one of the greatest writers of our time but the cadences he uses in his work (especially the repetitive phrases) are almost "trademark." On more than one occasion I have intruded on someone watching a Mamet film adaptation and within moments identified the film not because of the actor, but simply because of the speech cadences. And then you have Chiwetel Ejiofor, who may possibly never have given a bad performance in his life -- his work for example in Whedon's Serenity is nothing less than mesmerizing. And finally you have the subject matter. Mamet usually likes to under-promise and over-deliver, contenting himself with mild suspense themes, usually involving some sort of "long con" with a "big reveal." But here he takes on the big boys and attempts an actioner, martial arts no less. I was in the theatre for the very first showing of this film in Toronto. The matinée, as I recall. That's how much I wanted to love this film. But I didn't. It is workable, it holds together well, the payoff is adequate, but overall the "tall tale" of the overlooked martial artist with the high ideals was slightly off-note. Even to this day, I am not sure if the problem was in the direction or the story or both. So, having unburdened myself, I will leave the final analysis to future viewers like yourself. This should have been one of the greatest films of all time. But it missed.
A fantastic movie! The traditional script of a movie is nothing in comparison to this masterpiece. Whether its a fighting movie that you enjoy or a drama, this movie will take your breath away! I could not have been happier with this movie. A must watch for any true movie buff! The story is fantastic! Tim Allen plays a completely different role from his standard and Chiwetel Ejiofor gives a performance of a lifetime. Even the appearance of Randy Couture make the movie that much more believable. The fights are believable which is a rarity in a martial arts movie... Purchased this movie myself for 2$ and was the best money i have ever spent! I constantly re-watch this movie!
In David Mamet's "Redbelt," Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is the proprietor of a mixed-martial-arts academy, who - ironic for a business-owner - is opposed on principle to entrepreneurship and competition. This drives Sondra (Alice Braja), his wife and business partner, crazy because she is the one forced to deal with the financial consequences of such an attitude. When he comes to the aid of a movie star who's caught up in a bar fight, the actor he rescues makes Terry a co-producer on the film he's shooting. But just as things are looking up for Terry, a complex series of events - involving loan sharks, game-fixing, and conspiracies to defraud - threatens to undermine the married couple's financial security, leaving Terry with only one viable option: to agree to fight in a tournament despite his ethical aversion to competing for money.Once you get past the credibility-defying notion of comedian Tim Allen as a world-famous action star and the rather murky nature of the storytelling, you'll be treated to a subtle and thoughtful look at just how principled a man can afford to be in a world where unscrupulous, immoral and amoral people hold the reins of power – and where good people are often at their mercy.Typical of Mamet, the characters speak in roundabout riddles, often talking at cross purposes to one another and frequently leaving questions hanging in the air unanswered. This can make the movie hard to follow at times, but it is also what makes it challenging and interesting to watch in the long run.
Portrayed as an action movie in the trailers, there is very little action in this movie at all. Just a whole lot of highly improbable plot twists. I was so bored I just kept checking the time because I wanted it to be over. This film is awful, it has all the clichés for sport films and all the cinematography is boring, dull and plain. There is nothing remotely interesting about this film. This movie is a complete waste of time. The performances are so-so and the plot is so predictable that I was almost asleep at the last scenes.I won't recommend it to anyone, because there are a lot of films much better than this.