"Redbelt" Review

After I took Amanda home, I was up in Noblesville and Phil mentioned that we was thinking about watching "Speed Racer" last night. So, I called him to see if he was still going to, and he told me that the earliest we could watch it was 11:35pm, but if I wanted to - he would run the print. So, I told him I would come up and hang out with him until then (since I was already all the way up in Noblesville anyways...). So, I get to Phil's theatre, we hang out a little bit and then I realize that his theatre is playing "Redbelt". It's a film I was really interested in watching, and thought I was going to have to find the time to go to Landmark to watch it. As fate would have it, "Redbelt" started two minutes after I arrived, and it got over at 11:40pm. Phil said he'd have "Speed Racer" ready when I was done - so I was off to a second movie.

"Redbelt" is a David Mamet film, and I think it's better to let people know that before they go into the film. I'm the ONLY person I know who liked the film "Spartan". Although, I know a number of people who enjoyed "State and Main". The film I consider him most appealing was "Glengarry Glen Ross", which he only wrote. Although, I suppose more people are probably familiar with "Ronin", yet another good film he wrote.

The biggest complaint about Mamet films are the lack of diversity in his characters. Many of them use the same types of language and idioms, and almost all sound like clones of one another. Some might say that its due to the fact that Mamet attempts to give us one small niche, and not a broad picture. In his small niches of characters, they are people who all do talk and act the same, because they have grown up together in the same neighborhood and spent the lives working together. I can buy that, and that's good - because many of the characters in "Redbelt" seem to talk and act like they've all lived on the same block for 30 years, even the Hollywood Actor.

I'm a big fan of Chiwetel Ejiofor, basically the first time I remember seeing him was "Love Actually". Then he popped up in "Four Brothers" and "Serenity". Especially after "Serenity", I decided I wanted to keep an eye on this dude, because of his wide variety of character portrayals. I liked him in "Inside Man", but missed him in "American Gangster" - Note to self: Add that to your NetFlix. I do have "Dirty Pretty Things" in my NetFlix, which I hear is a GREAT flick, I should probably move it up...

Now, back to Chewie. He's amazing in this film as Mike Terry, the protagonist who teaches Jujitsu. His attitude and demeanor are perfect, and he plays a man who knows all the angles to everything. "There is no situation that you can not escape from" is the mantra he preaches throughout the film. And his character does an amazing job of sticking to his beliefs, all the way to the end - no matter how hard things get for him.

Much like "Spartan", the film just throws us into the action, without very much set up. We are introduced to Mike Terry teaching his class, and following his class we introduced to what seems to be a completely random woman, who would later become very pivotal in many of the events to come.

Through a series of events, Mike finds himself at the same bar as an Actor, Chet Frank - played by Tim Allen - and when Allen's character is attached Mike rescues him. This begins a "friendship" between the two men. A "friendship" that is not at all as it seems.

As the film progress, and Mike gets involved as a producer on Chet's current film, Mike meets more and more people and believes he is networking with them, only to be cold-shouldered and learn that everything he was helping with on the film has been stolen from him, and in turn used to create a new style of Mixed-Martial Arts fighting.

Every character in the film does an amazing job of two-facing themselves. The actors were perfect. And the as the plot continues to unfold, you get to see - as Mike does - the evil nature of people, as they all continue to stab him in the back. And when it's all said and done, and Mike's got nowhere left to turn, and it looks like he has lost everything, his character makes a choice the goes against his entire teaching philosophy, and he is forced to fight in the MMA Event. It's an amazing character struggle, and watching Mike constantly hope and believe that he can make things better is amazing to watch. He's struggling with so many different things, and everything continues to snowball down on top of him, and he is finally forced to make move that he considers defaming to his character, but it is the only move he has to "escape".

About the only complaint I have about the film is this: I like ambiguous endings, but this one might have been a little too much, even for me. I like how it ended, but I didn't like the number of questions that are still left unanswered when the credits begin to roll. Too many things are brought up during the climax - and then there is basically zero falling action or resolution. I'm not saying it ruined the film, but it's the only thing I didn't really like about it.

Overall, I think its one of the best concepts I've seen recently - I'm TIRED of sequels and remakes!!! And I think all of the acting is top-notch quality. I highly recommend the flick, I think its a good example of original and intriguing filmmaking.