STUDIO: Sony Pictures Classics
RELEASE DATE: May 9, 2008
STARRING: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emily Mortimer, Tim Allen, Alice Braga, Rodrigo Santoro, Joe Mantegna, Rebecca Pidgeon, David Paymer, and Ricky Jay
WRITTEN BY: David Mamet
DIRECTED BY: David Mamet
GENRE: Drama
RATING: R

Call me old-fashioned, but the number of men who can truly say that they stand by such a rigid moral code that it is unbreakable in any situation seems to dwindle with every generation. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer/director turns his attention from the con men and scumbags that typically populate his pieces to focus on one such man in Redbelt. Mamet's power of prose tells the story of Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a Jiu-Jitsu master and teacher in Los Angeles who fights against corruption and a world where holding your head above moral waters can be very difficult - Hollywood. After a series of Mamet-esque events - one involving a cop and an emotionally unstable woman (Emily Mortimer) at his martial arts school and another involving a reckless actor (Tim Allen) at a bar, Mike finds himself caught in a very uncomfortable situation that may put his code to the test. Terry doesn't believe in competitive fighting, using the philosophies of Jiu-Jitsu to get him through life, not to get any sort of prize or belt. Mike teaches his students that there is no situation from which you can not escape and then Mamet gives him a real-life noir from which to find his way to safety...and it may include fighting for his life.

Mamet has long been an icon in theatre circles - he's the main reason I was a theatre major, after reading Glengarry Glen Ross changed my life - but he never gets the praise he deserves in Hollywood. Considering his own Jiu-Jitsu mastery, perhaps he sees a little bit of himself in Mike Terry, a man who is always trying to do his best, as most around him do what they can to destroy him. Mamet's plays are instantly recognizable to even the most casual theatre fan, but films like House of Games, Homicide, Oleanna, The Spanish Prisoner, The Winslow Boy, State and Main, and Spartan all range from good to great. He's been one of the more consistent writer/directors of the last twenty years and Redbelt fits firmly into his filmography both thematically and in terms of quality. It's an intriguing film from first frame to last, only slightly hampered by a few final act twists that turn a few too many characters into merely plot devices. But that's to be expected with Mamet, who often focuses on one or two characters and uses the rest of the ensemble in relation to his protagonist.

It really helps the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer/director that he gets arguably the best lead performance in the history of his filmography from Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dirty Pretty Things, Serenity), an Olivier Award-winning actor who may not be a household name yet but will be very soon. Ejiofor is one of those actors who embodies a character so completely that he makes it look easy. He doesn't do anything flashy in playing Mike Terry but he also makes not one single decision that feels false. Mike feels like a guy who exists when the cameras stop rolling, which gives the inevitable martial arts match at the end of Redbelt a thousand time more dramatic weight that it would if we could "see the acting" in Ejiofor's performance. Ejiofor gives one of the most well-rounded and intriguing turns of the year and carries the entire film to the winner's circle.