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Redbelt
1:39 R (for strong language)
C Genre: Action/Adventure
Cast: Emily Mortimer, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Max Martini, Rebecca Pidgeon, Cathy Cahlin Ryan
Director(s): David Mamet
Official Site: http://www.redbeltmovie.com Summary: "Redbelt" is the story of Mike Terry, a Jiu-jitsu master who has avoided the prize fighting circuit, choosing to instead pursue a life of honor and education by operating a self-defense studio in Los Angeles. Terry's life is dramatically changed however when he is conned by a cabal of movie stars and promoters. In order to pay off his debts and regain his honor Terry must step into the ring for the first time in his life.
review
Mamet muffs martial-arts melodrama
Playwright-turned-film-director David Mamet is known for staccato dialogue and sleight-of-hand story lines. In his martial-arts melodrama "Redbelt," flying fists and feet do most of the talking, so Mamet fans should be doubly alert for the ol' switcheroo.
Yet when it comes, it's so pointless and perfunctory, we wonder whether the real con game was when the neocon filmmaker faked us into thinking that this "Rocky" rip-off had something to say. Part of the deceit is the casting of Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mike Terry, a jujitsu instructor in downtown Los Angeles. Ejiofor is such an effortlessly convincing actor, his Yoda role has an added force. When Mike coaches a policeman pupil named Joe (Max Martini) on escaping from a bind, the teacher's words reverberate with portent. Soon, a nervous yuppie (Emily Mortimer) bursts into the storefront and inexplicably causes a commotion that ends with the accidental discharge of the cop's gun. The dominoes of fate fall loudly. Mike's nagging Brazilian wife, Sondra (Alice Braga), demands that he find money to clean up the mess. While he's begging his bar-owner brother-in-law for a loan, Mike breaks up a fight involving tough-guy movie star Chet Frank (Tim Allen). Chet takes a liking to Mike and invites the Terrys to his mansion, where Mike is offered a producer job on Chet's war movie and Sondra is offered a partnership in a dress-making venture. But because the setting is Hollywood, by way of Mamet's increasingly jaundiced mind, things are not as they seem, and after a series of preposterous events, Mike's money problems mount. He is forced to compromise his principles and compete in a televised fight tournament for a shady promoter (Mamet regular Ricky Jay). And that's when this fleetingly interesting puzzle goes overboard. If you mistakenly walked into the last act of this movie, you might think it was a sequel to the underdog potboiler "Never Back Down," directed by a hack with a background in basic cable. As Mike battles his betrayers to reclaim the honor of his sport, his lonely, overblown heroism is laughable. Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize for "Glengarry Glen Ross," but if he continues to walk this pedestrian path, his legacy will take a beating. (At the Tivoli.) joewilliams@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8344 |
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