Redbelt (2008)
Is there room for principle in Los Angeles? Mike Terry teaches jujitsu and barely makes ends meet. His Brazilian wife, whose family promotes fights, wants to see Mike in the ring making money, but to him competition is degrading. A woman sideswipes Mike's car and then, after an odd sequence of events, shoots out the studio's window. Later that evening, Mike rescues an action movie star in a fistfight at a bar. In return, the actor befriends Mike, gives him a gift, offers him work on his newest film, and introduces Mike's wife to his own - the women initiate business dealings. Then, things go sour all at once, Mike's debts mount, and going into the ring may be his only option.
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Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor) teaches jujitsu in L.A. His wife Sondra (Alice Braga) struggles to pay the bills with her fashion company. Lawyer Laura Black (Emily Mortimer) hits his car and comes into his studio to report it. Police officer Joe Collins touches her from behind and she grabs his gun firing it through the front window. They agree to forget the incident. Mike tries to get a loan from Sondra's brother Ricardo (John Machado) but he only offers him a fight in the undercard. Action star Chet Frank (Tim Allen) gets into a bar fight and Mike saves him. Chet and his wife Zena (Rebecca Pidgeon) befriend Mike and Sondra.Chiwetel Ejiofor's zen-like quality anchors this movie. I like him and Emily Mortimer. However the movie is overstuffed with too many characters and too much plot. It gets too convoluted. I wish Mamet could simplify the story to concentrate on fewer characters. It's still worthwhile but it could be much better.
Review: I wasn't that impressed with this film because it keeps on changing from one plot to the another and the acting isn't that great. The movie is based on a Jiu-Jitsu expert, Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who has no money in the bank and is struggling to keep his self- defence studio afloat. Whilst arguing about his debts with his girlfriend, who is a promising dress designer, there is an accident in his studio which involves a lawyer and an off-duty police officer, who is one of his students. Because of the accident, he has to find money to replace a broken window, which he definitely can't afford. He then goes to his brother-in- law to borrow some money and while he is in his club, a famous acting star (Tim Allen) ends up in a bar brawl so Mike Terry comes to his rescue and they soon become friends. He then gets introduced to the acting world by helping Allen produce a movie but his new found friends promises lead to know were. Mike Terry and his girlfriend make some bad choices in life which incurs more debt and after a unforeseen chain of events, Mike Terry enters a competition which involves his Jiu-Jitsu skills and a big reward. I don't think that Chiwetel Ejiofor was the perfect choice for this film because his character seemed extremely cold and moody throughout the film. The showdown at the end was rubbish, after such a big build up and the fighting throughout the movie wasn't that impressive. None of the individuals story lines had a proper ending, especially Tim Allen who went missing through most of the movie and after all of the various events, Mike Terry still didn't solve his money problems so it all seemed a bit pointless. I know that there is a honourable concept to the movie which really doesn't solve the day to day problems in Mike Terry's life but his consistency proves a triumph in the end. On the plus side, I did like Tim Allen's character and I enjoyed the brief look into the prize winning fighting world but the film just had too much going on. Average!Round-Up: I've never been a big fan of Chiwetel Ejiofor's work because he seems to over act in most of his movies but I did like him in 12 Years a Slave, American Gangster, Talk To Me, Inside Man, Children of Men and Amistad which was his big movie debut in 1997. He has starred alongside some of the biggest stars in Hollywood and he has proved that he can hold his own but I still find it hard to warm to his acting style. He was nominated for a Oscar in 2014 for his fantastic performance in 12 Years a Slave but he lost out to Matthew McConaughey for his leading role in Dallas Buyers Club. With 6 movies in the pipeline which include Marvels Dr. Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch, he must be happy with his career so far, even though I find him a bit moody. This film was written and directed by David Mamet who brought you movies like State & Main, Heist with Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito, Spartan and the TV movie Phil Spector with Helen Mirren and Al Pacino with a massive afro. He hasn't had the most success at the box office and judging by this movies takings, audiences are obviously not warming to his movies. I didn't like the flow of this movie because the director kept on introducing new elements which made the film seem a bit messy. Anyway, it's a watchable film but it's nothing that amazing.Budget: $7million Worldwide Gross: $2.6millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/sport movies about a Jiu-Jitsu expert who takes on a prize winning bout to clear up his many debts. 3/10
This film is so superior, and yet apparently (according to IMDb) it made no money at all! The irritatingly named Chiwetel Ejiofor is a gifted British actor who embodies the heroic theme of this film: holding on to your ethics in the midst of massive corruption. Writer/director David Mamet has described corruption many times, and his bad guys always have the language, but Mike Terry (Ejiofor) has ideals, and reveres the Japanese "Professor" who holds the unique Red Belt. It's fascinatingly familiar to see Terry's world collapsing around his ears, and his debts mounting over his head. His jiu-jitsu craft comes into action when he teaches Emily Mortimer's rape-victim character to defend herself, and she provides the stimulus (in a cracking slap round the face) for him to turn round and confront his tormentors and challenge the whole MMR racket and its Gina Carano-type "star" fighters. It's a great climax, and neatly redirected when, instead of taking the mike and denouncing the event, he takes the red belt from the professor. End of picture: highly recommended.
This atrocity plays like MAD MAGAZINE does martial arts, only with zero sense of humor. Maybe its artsy-fartsy pretentiousness would play better with subtitles, but in English it's a disaster from start to finish. I cannot understand how in the world it got made. Nor, in truth, can I understand how those involved in making it could come to work every day. Indeed I have trouble understanding how in hell I made it through the entire film. I guess the only possible explanation is total disbelief. The plot is preposterous, a character who seem brain dead at one moment prove to be star attorney when it's convenient, and the action is clubfooted at best. As for the dialogue, maybe it's time for Mamet to hang it up -- or at least to head back to the stage.