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Redbelt is a tale of art vs. commerce - Mike, who runs a martial-arts gym in Los Angeles, represents the art, and Mamet regular Ricky Jay, playing a promoter of Ultimate Fighting-like matches, stands for the crass pursuit of a buck. Written and directed by the prolific Mamet, the film begins with promise, but tumbles into exasperatingly convoluted scenarios. But Ejiofor, the British actor of Dirty Pretty Things and Children of Men, is terrific in the lead - his quietness, and watchfulness, is perfect for a guy who is all about the Inner Warrior, about purity of mind and the certainty, and resiliency, of the body.
But Mamet, whose writing here isn't as crackling nor as colorful as it has been in films such as The Spanish Prisoner or The Winslow Boy, surrounds Ejiofor's insistently honorable Mike with two-dimensional charlatans and shills: a shifty loan shark (David Paymer), a smug movie star (Tim Allen) and his slick sidekick (Joe Mantegna).
The women in Redbelt are equally unconvincing. Emily Mortimer, in the role of a nervous-nelly lawyer, sets the plot in motion when she sideswipes a parked car in front of Mike's gym. But there's a blankness about her character that matches the look in her eyes. Alice Braga, as Mike's wife, is reduced to nagging and needling - trying to deal with bounced checks and her husband's unwillingness to "sell out."
That would involve accepting a spot on a martial-arts match's undercard - $50,000 for entering the ring and punching, flipping and kickboxing an opponent around in front of hordes of fans. Despite the deep and dangerous hole Mike and his wife have dug for themselves, he doesn't want to do this. But, well, there are some situations that maybe you can't turn to your advantage after all.
And then you can.
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 climactic sequences, too, are poorly staged. Mamet is a master of talk, not action, and despite the presence of cinematographer Robert Elswit, who just won an Academy Award for There Will Be Blood, and despite a percussive score from Stephen Endelman and the presence of a top-tier stunt coordinator, Redbelt's ultimate Ultimate Fight moment feels sorely lacking.
Written and directed by David Mamet. With Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alice Braga, Emily Mortimer, Tim Allen, Joe Mantegna and Ricky Jay. Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.
Running time: 1 hour, 39 mins.
Parent's guide: R (profanity, violence, adult themes)
Playing at: area theaters.
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