STUDIO: Sony
RELEASE DATE: August 26, 2008
STARRING: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emily Mortimer, Tim Allen, Alice Braga, Rodrigo Santoro, Joe Mantegna, Rebecca Pidgeon, David Paymer, and Ricky Jay
WRITTEN BY: David Mamet
DIRECTED BY: David Mamet
FEATURES: Behind-the-Scenes of Redbelt
Fighter Profiles

What happens to even the most resilient and morally fortified men when their code of honor and belief in the way humanity functions is not just tested but assaulted from all sides? It's a dramatic theme as old as the written word and one that has long fascinated David Mamet, one of his generation's best writers. In the world of theatre, Mamet is a living legend - what Scorsese is to film or the Dylan is to music - but that success and reputation has never led to breakout success in film. Critics have long adored Mamet's movies, but I think it's about time for a public recognition of what this man has accomplished off the stage. House of Games, Homicide, The Spanish Prisoner, and Spartan are all fantastic films and The Winslow Boy, State and Main, and Oleanna reside only a notch lower. Every single one of them is worth your time. And now there's Redbelt, a film that survived the summer and thrives as one of the few early 2008 films that continues to resonate for me. It's a movie that I thought was good at the time it was released in theaters and now that it's on Blu-Ray, have reconsidered that opinion to excellent. Kind of like everything Mamet does, Redbelt is a film that not only gets richer on repeat viewing but just by allowing it to linger in your memory. It's one of the best of the year.

The latest great Mamet hero is a one-eighty from the con men and scumbags who have often populated his pieces. Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor, who is only second to Richard Jenkins in The Visitor for Best Actor of the Year to date) is a Jiu-Jitsu master and teacher in Los Angeles, a city where it can be awfully difficult to live by a strict moral code. The entirety of Redbelt could be called a Jiu-Jitsu match for the legendary Terry, who teaches his students that there is no situation from which you can not escape. If an opponent has you pinned against the wall, either you wait him out until you get the upper hand or you physically overtake him. After a series of Mamet-esque events including a cop with controversy on his hands, an emotionallly unstable woman (the great Emily Mortimer), a reckless actor (Tim Allen), and more of the machinations of Hollywood, Terry finds himself with his back against the wall and in need of one of those escapes. Mike doesn't believe it fighting. He believes that Jiu-Jitsu is a way of life, not to win a prize or belt, but Mamet puts his hero in a real-life noir where the only way out may be to literally fight for his life.

Some of Redbelt, especially the final act, felt a but too plot-driven the first time I saw it. I'm not giving anything away to say that, essentially, every character is a plot device for what eventually happens to Mike. Viewed again - and with a gorgeous Blu-Ray video and audio transfer from Sony, the studio who still leads the market in this format - those complaints fall away. Yes, a few of the last-act plot twists feel a little manipulative, but the whole thing is about Mike. He's the man in the ring. Everyone else is correctly written in terms of how they effect him. And HE is stunningly good. See Redbelt just for Ejiofor, one of the best actors alive. Mike feels like a guy who existed before the director yelled "Action!" and goes on well after the "Cut!" Ejiofor, who recently won the Olivier Award (something stunning considering his young age) does not make a single decision with this character that feels false.

The Blu-Ray release for Redbelt is a bit of a disappointment. You'll learn more about the making of the film by reading this interview with Ejiofor. What's on the Blu-Ray is shockingly light, especially for a format that is often big on providing endless special features. And Mamet's not usually quiet. Maybe they're waiting for a special edition for the commentary track or detailed behind-the-scenes information. Criterion has handled a few Mamet titles in the past. This would be a great addition.