Redbelt = Two Stripe Purple
Mamet is a playwright and his best movies have been when they take the play directly to film (i.e., Glen Garry Glen Ross). He has always been bad at plotting, so it wasn't any surprise to find a few WTF moments where there seemed to be a part of the story that was missing.And here are some professional reviews:
That said, a good "film" if you know what I mean. Typical Mamet cynicism and double-crossing that was pretty well-done. And if you are a fan of his stuff then you'll enjoy a lot of the dialogue. More of a "samurai" movie than anything else--which Mamet has acknowledged was his intention. A lot of interesting character types that were worth watching (Tim Roth, Mantegna, the loanshark and the lead--Ejiofor ...)
Mamet’s martial-arts flick Redbelt superb
From Nova Scotia! (I love the internets ...)
'Redbelt' master
From the Boston Globe
'Redbelt' a solid Mamet meditation on ideals, betrayal, marraige, martial arts
From the San Jose Mercury News
I'm very glad that Redbelt is getting positive reviews. It's not the greatest film in the world, and it's not Mamet's best film (that would be this one).
But when so much of martial arts is getting sucked up into the vortex of mixed martial arts, it is nice to see what is really a bushido-based, martial arts movie--far more interested, as Ojiofor puts it, in "prevailing" than in knockouts and "ground and pound."
Will MMA fans like it? I'd say that the likelihood of liking "Redbelt" correlates with the amount of time they spend in the gi. I can't imagine anyone who started training jiu jitsu after seeing Royce Gracie in the early UFCs not enjoying the film, nor anyone who has ever toiled and sweated (and elbow escaped and guard passed) in a little run-down academy like the one in the film. But if another version of "Never Back Down" is what you are looking for, then "Redbelt" is likely to disappoint.
A good movie and a good time. I've always had a soft spot for Mamet and as for jiu jitsu, well, it's the next best thing to believing in God as far as I'm concerned. That makes "Redbelt" a thumbs up, easily, for me.
