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Redbelt
Sony Pictures Classics


6.8

based on 32 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 20 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for strong language

Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alice Braga, Tim Allen, Emily Mortimer, Rodrigo Santoro, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Randy Couture

Set on the west side of the Los Angeles fight world, a world inhabited by bouncers, cage fighters, cops, and special forces types, Redbelt is the story of Mike Terry, a jujitsu teacher who has avoided the prize-fighting circuit, choosing instead to pursue an honorable life by operating a self-defense studio with a samurai's code. Terry and his wife, Sondra, struggle to keep the business running to make ends meet. On a dark, rainy night, an accident at the academy between an off-duty officer and a distraught lawyer puts in motion a series of events that will change Terry's life dramatically and introduce him to a world of promoters and to movie star Chet Frank. Faced with this, in order to pay off his debts and regain his honor, Terry must step into the ring for the first time in his life. (Sony Classics)

GENRE(S):	Action \| Drama
WRITTEN BY:	David Mamet
DIRECTED BY:	David Mamet
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: August 26, 2008 Theatrical: May 2, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	99 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

The film unravels a bit in the last few moments, amid unanswered story questions and a simplistic climax, but until that moment, Redbelt is Mamet's richest film of the decade.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Mamet regulars Ricky Jay and Joe Mantegna blend well with Mamet newbie Tim Allen, a treat as a spoiled-rotten aging Hollywood action star.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Mamet is more respectful than exciting as an action director, but his fascination with how things work, be it the mechanics of designing and promoting a big pay-per-view event or battling a world-class Jiu-jitsu master, makes it all quite mesmerizing.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

As the heart and soul of the film, Chiwetel Ejiofor once again impresses.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

A satisfying, unexpectedly involving B-movie that owes as much to old Hollywood as to Greek tragedy.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Ejiofor brings a calm magnetism and a beatific serenity to his roles that have the effect of knocking you flat -- there's something about this guy that's messianic.

USA Today Claudia Puig

It's certainly not Mamet's signature rapid-fire dialogue, but it's an intriguing and engrossing departure.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Mamet is on his game, and that is a sight to see. No con.

New York Post Kyle Smith

This isn't Mamet at his finest, though, which leaves us with a script that is merely three times as smart as the average feature.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

For whatever its flaws, Redbelt offers up a good deal of Mametian red meat while also trying to break out of some of the strictures that Mamet's erected around his own work.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

Entertaining in a pulpy kind of way, like the fight films of the 1930s and '40s, and more accessible than most of Mamet's movies.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

In Redbelt, David Mamet enters the realm of sports drama and Rocky-underdog clichés and discovers it's a surprisingly good fit.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Not everyone can act his material with ease. But Ejiofor, who brings a serene gravity to every exchange, was born to do Mamet.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Mike Terry's uncompromising fight for his principles makes for a fascinating, beautifully acted study in philosophical tension.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

What Redbelt reminded me of more than anything else was a modern version of a classic film noir, particularly 1950's brilliantly seedy "Night and the City," with its pro-wrestling subplot.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It never really pulls itself together into the convincing, focused drama it promises, yet it kept me involved right up until the final scenes, which piled on developments almost recklessly.

Time Richard Schickel

Despite its novel milieu somehow remains trapped in genre conventions. It's still basically a boxing picture, not essentially different from dozens of other movies about life in and around what the old time sportswriters used to call "the squared circle." Mamet's circle is, alas, just a little too square.

Newsweek David Ansen

Thanks to Ejiofor's wonderful performance--his easy, commanding body language wordlessly convinces you of his character's nobility--and Mamet's knowing take on the arcane world of Brazilian jiujitsu, Redbelt never loses its muscular hold on your attention.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

What is memorable is the film's portrait of a man of honor in a sleazy world, possibly a metaphor for the struggle of the artist to stay honorable in a world of backbiting, betrayal and hunger for easy money.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

It's a classic fight movie, with Chiwetel Ejiofor as an honorable martial arts instructor...But nesting inside is a sour little 70s-style David Mamet play about the lies, calculations, and ice-cold politics of Hollywood, as the fighter is befriended and then discarded by a callow movie star.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

With his 10th feature--an entertaining tale of high-stakes martial arts--Mamet has infused the sleight of hand with a measure of two-fisted action.

Variety Todd McCarthy

An absorbing and colorful, if not particularly convincing, excursion into a demi-monde of fighters, scammers, promoters and self-styled modern samurai, Redbelt gives the impression of Mamet coyly toying with the idea of making a populist little-man-against-the-system sports melodrama without actually attempting to create a film for the masses.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

So how's the Mamet "Rocky"? Fast. Lively. In your face. Very watchable. And, like its predecessors, so bizarrely convoluted it barely holds together on a narrative level. But the underpinnings are consistent.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Mr. Ejiofor gives a commanding performance, perfectly calibrated in what's withheld just as much as what's revealed.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

In the end, Redbelt prevails, just as Terry teaches his students to prevail, but getting there isn't always pretty.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

One of the problems with the way Mamet resolves Mike's predicament is that it's ridiculously implausible - even in the context of a far-fetched fight story.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Disappointingly unique.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The plot is borderline ridiculous and certainly doesn't stand up to close (or even not-so-close) scrutiny, but there's a level of entertainment to be had watching it unfold in all its strangeness.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

A perverse mixed-martial arts film in which talk trumps action.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Redbelt will fascinate those who share David Mamet's interest in mixed martial arts. But its hold may be weaker on those who don't.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

David Mamet and jujitsu come together in Redbelt, and the result is a draw.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Mamet's trademark artificial, mutual-incomprehension dialogue and con-game plotting are ineptly matched to the action genre (and feel stale in any case), while the jiu-jitsu scenes are so incoherently shot and edited you can't tell if the fight choreography is any good or not.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.8 (out of 10) based on 20 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

George M gave it a9:
This is the strangest martial arts movie I've ever seen, its not some chop socky mess with a silly story and 1-dimensional characters, this is a complex film with a deep sense of character development.....its a personal journey for the "hero" AND the viewer as well. The is a film about morals, honor, and the human spirit that for some, simply CANNOT be broken.....our hero seems to think about everyone but himself, and no matter how hard he tries to help other people it tends to backfire in his face but his intentions are pure and true. This is a man you really want to see succeed, its hard watching bad things happen to such a good person who means well in everything he does.....and while it ends rather abruptly with MANY questions left unanswered and the well-being of our hero a little "open".....it still manages to end like the 4th of July with a triumphant personal victory. This is a wonderful film about the "deeper" side of martial arts, the courage of someone that simply CANT be held down by the outside world, and the good that can be found in a ugly ugly world. BUY this......rent Never Back Down (then get hypnotized to forget about it), and be happy with your decision......i'm sure youll understand what i mean after youve seen both.

Jay Higgins gave it a4:
I am obviously in the minority on this one, but what can I say, the movie just didn't interest me. I simply couldn't get into it. The cast was okay, Emily Mortimer however was great. Boring.

Adrian M gave it an8:
Best MMA film to date. Good character development and quite an unexpected ending. Glad Therry did not just walk away like most people would have rathered. Remember, Therry is a fighter at heart and sometimes you just have to fight.

Kela M. gave it a2:
The crappiest movie I have seen in a while;the end was particularly corny.Boring and complete waste of time.

Marcus A gave it a5:
Why is it that when I see a Mamet written and directed movie, i always come away with the impression that it was written and directed by a first time writer / director. The so called "twists and turns" are telegraphed well in advance, and the actors' delivery is consistently choppy and one-dimensional. I don't think that the actors lack skill, but that instead the direction they're receiving is amateurish. Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way. Maybe I should just should just lower my expectations if I know that Mamet is writing / directing, then I won't be disappointed.

Steve R. gave it a1:
I cannot believe how badly this film misses the mark. Mamet brings high expectations. This film has chasm wide holes. People who betray at the last moment. People who disengage for no reason, people who slap and love with no investment. If not for Ejiofor and Alllen, this film was atrociously written and poorly acted. Mamet's worst effort by a wide margin and inexcusable given his knowledge of the subject. Randy Couture stutters every first line. What a fiasco, and I cannot believe the Metacritic score, i have never been so far off. 20 years from now, some films rise and gain cult status, mark my words, this will gain Showgirls status.

DWilly gave it a3:
This is a bad movie. Do you understand what I'm saying? This movie Mamet wrote. It's bad. They aren't even actors, some of these people. Ricky Jay, Tim Allen. Lady playing the cops wife, must be Mamet’s accountant or worse. Line readings like you got turds in your Christmas stocking, so off putting. Phoney Jiu-Jitsu, lacks all common sense. Characters you don’t know how they got from A to C, nor why they're doing half what they're doing, which goes over and over for the ending which is an insult. Even this Ejlofor who has talent has bad scenes. Mamet. Please.

Redbelt Sony Pictures Classics

Redbelt
Sony Pictures Classics