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Movies / Upcoming / Redbelt
Redbelt

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Redbelt (2008)

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68 %
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Reviews Counted:134

Fresh:91

Rotten:43

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: Mamet's mixed marital arts morality play weaves between action and intellect but doesn't always hit its target.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong language

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:May 9, 2008 Wide

Box Office: $2,278,707

Synopsis: Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor follows his turn in AMERICAN GANGSTER by taking the lead role in this thoughtful fight movie from writer/director David Mamet. Ejiofor plays Mike Terry, a man who runs his... Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor follows his turn in AMERICAN GANGSTER by taking the lead role in this thoughtful fight movie from writer/director David Mamet. Ejiofor plays Mike Terry, a man who runs his own Jiu-jitsu studio in Los Angeles. Terry's business is failing, causing tension between him and his wife, Sondra (Alice Braga). But their lives change drastically when Terry is compelled to come to the aid of an actor, Chet Frank (Tim Allen), during a bar fight. Frank befriends Terry and invites him to come and work as a consultant on a movie he is shooting. Just as Terry's fortunes seem to be changing, he finds himself caught up in a deceitful plan that has been carefully hatched by Frank's devious agent (who is played by Mamet regular Joe Mantegna). With his debts piling up, Terry decides to go against all his instincts and enter the competitive fighting world, where he stands to win a huge cash prize. But the good-natured fighter is in for a shock when he gets a close-up glimpse of the corruption that runs rife throughout the sport. REDBELT is full of the usual plot twists and fine performances that mark any Mamet movie. It's fascinating to watch the director draw on his longstanding passion for Jiu-jitsu to fill out the storyline, and Ejiofor does a convincing job as a man who draws on the discipline of the sport to stay calm during some testing times. As with many Mamet films, a series of cons are liberally sprinkled throughout the script, calling on viewers to remain alert as each strand of the storyline slowly unravels. The bulk of the movie is conversational, shying away from the action sequences that mark most fight movies, and making REDBELT an unusual and invaluable addition to the genre. [More]

Starring: Chjwetel Ejiofor, Joe Mantegna, Emily Mortimer, Ricky Jay

Starring: Chjwetel Ejiofor, Joe Mantegna, Emily Mortimer, Ricky Jay, Alice Braga, Tim Allen, Ray Mancini, Rebecca Pidgeon, Rodrigo Santoro, John Machado, David Paymer

Director: David Mamet

Director: David Mamet
Screenwriter: David Mamet
Producer: Chrisann Verges
Composer: Stephen Endelman
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Redbelt

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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A Kickboxer installment that got too big for its breeches

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/26/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Graham Fuller
Graham Fuller
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
02/27/09
Chris Bumbray
Chris Bumbray
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

Redbelt seems like a rush job that relies too much on the quick fix. I'm very willing to suspend my disbelief, but Redbelt becomes outlandish.

Full Review Source: Fayetteville Free Weekly | comment Comment
02/01/09
Tony Macklin
Tony Macklin
Fayetteville Free Weekly

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/18/08
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

This Mametian thriller is worth watching for a terrific performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor, but it's hard to engage with the story and it loses its way in the final act.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/18/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

The detail and clear devotion he has for the sport may actually have the effect of distancing the rest of audience from his film.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
10/01/08
Pete Hammond
Pete Hammond
Hollywood.com

Redbelt, his latest, is a curious one, a movie that hints at greatness only to retreat, unpardonably, into genre convention.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
09/26/08
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

The Mamet rhythms are pleasingly in place: the repetition-rich dialogue, the head-butting close-ups as men go ego to ego.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
09/26/08
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

Exuding inner calm, Ejiofor is great. But he’s badly let down by director David Mamet, whose contrived script goes to unbelievable lengths to weaken Mike’s resolve.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
09/26/08
Sun Online

Not prime, grade-A Mamet, but this meaty martial-arts movie offers heavyweight performances and a deliciously juicy set-up. Things get scrappy in the last act, but you’ll want to see how it all unravels.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
09/26/08
Tom Charity
Tom Charity
Total Film

David Mamet sets him on the path to righteousness in a collection of contrivances masquerading as a meaningful plot.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
09/26/08
Elliott Noble
Elliott Noble
Sky Movies

Emily Mortimer is impressive as a jittery, unlikable attorney whose impulsive actions trigger Mike's descent. But it's Ejiofor's film all the way.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
09/26/08
David Gritten
David Gritten
Daily Telegraph

Ejiofor remains a supremely assured, charismatic presence, though he has his work cut out here. He is pitted against a film with a black belt in pomposity and a gold medal in preening self-regard.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
09/26/08
Xan Brooks
Xan Brooks
Guardian [UK]

The discipline is remarkable. But this constipated drama, set in a blue-collar corner of Los Angeles, imparts none of the sweat-shop magic.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
09/26/08
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]

By no means a classic from David Mamet, Redbelt is authentic enough but fails to dazzle. The casting of Tim Allen is imaginative but too much of the film is underwhelming.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/26/08
James Mottram
James Mottram
Channel 4 Film

The plotting is contrived, the supporting characters two-dimensional, and the ending slides from predictable to absurd to maudlin.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
09/26/08
Ben Walters
Ben Walters
Time Out

Not vintage Mamet - the dialogue isn’t up to quotable snuff - but it still packs a decent punch thanks to Ejiofor’s solid performance.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/26/08
Chris Hewitt (UK)
Chris Hewitt (UK)
Empire Magazine

Like his other films and plays, Redbelt takes place in the Mamet universe, which only sometimes resembles the world the rest of us live in.

Full Review Source: Playback:stl | comment Comment
09/19/08
Sarah Boslaugh
Sarah Boslaugh
Playback:stl
 
 
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