Rating: R
Genre:
Thriller
Theatrical Release: 05/02/2008(USA
Release Date: 08/26/2008
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol/Por/TH/KO
Dubbed: English/French/Por/Espanol/TH
Sound: DD5.1/DD2
Run Time: 99 Minutes
Flags: Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Sony Pictures
Tim Allen and
Chiwetel Ejiofor co-star in writer/director
David Mamet's
martial arts drama Redbelt.
Ejiofor plays
Mike Terry, a jujitsu master who co-runs a very modest martial arts studio in Los Angeles with his bossy wife,
Sondra (
Alice Braga).
Mike demonstrates an unwavering commitment to his craft and draws a cadre of defiantly loyal pupils including
Joe (
Max Martini), an LAPD cop. All told, it appears that he has chosen a peaceful and conflict-free path in life. The dedicated martial artist's fate takes an unanticipated turn, however, one evening when a young woman named
Laura (
Emily Mortimer) bursts into the academy, reaches for a gun, and accidentally shatters the front window. One thing leads to another, and before long,
Laura is regularly receiving martial arts lessons from
Mike. As master begins to teach pupil and his martial arts philosophies emerge, his path also crisscrosses with that of a Hollywood movie star,
Chet Frank (
Tim Allen), when he saves the fellow from a beating at a local club and gets invited (along with
Sondra) to
Chet's house for dinner.
Chet extends gestures of friendship, and
Mike's guard breaks town; he speaks openly and candidly of a special martial arts method he employs that requires one of the participants to "assume a handicap." In time, the association with
Chet leads to involvement in the motion-picture industry, and relations with a bevy of characters who aren't exactly what they seem -- including a pay-per-view fight mogul (
Ricky Jay) and
Chet's slimy and manipulative manager (
Joe Mantegna).
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide