Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Redbelt (2008)

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Posted by Ben Goodman (Member # 4770) on 05-14-2008, 11:50 AM:

So I wouldn't say I'm a huge Mamet fan, and really I haven't seen a lot of his stuff-- I went into this movie because the trailer looked good.

To start with, Eijofor was absolutely 100% perfect in his portrayal as Mike Terry. There is not a single way I would change his performance. This guy is a movie star. Max Martini was above average, Alice Braga was above average, Tim Allen gave a surprisingly strong non-comedic performance, and Emily Mortimer was very powerful in her role.

Some parts of the movie were hard to follow. There were a lot of characters that came in without introduction or explanation, and sometimes I wasn't quite sure what was going on until later. There were lots of loose ends, and while some things fall into place, there was a lot left unresolved. This was a very narrow view of one man's life, and we only see other characters from his perspective. Is that a good thing? I'm not sure. Some people may like it, and I would probably enjoy it more on my second viewing of the movie.

Even with that said, there was nobody that I really just wish wasn't in the movie. Sure, I wanted to know more about the people I saw, but even in their small roles, everyone did serve a purpose. The minor characters were just plot devices, really. They were also embodiments of ideals, and really the movie is full of stark idealism. Good vs evil, honor vs greed, etc etc etc.

The dialogue was just so strong, as I'm told is standard in Mamet films-- everybody had something interesting to say. There were no wasted lines, no throwaway conversations, nothing like that. Everything had a place. Furthermore, there were some extremely powerful scenes that stuck with me after the movie was over.

As for the ending, well, I didn't want to like it. It felt very poetic, like something out of the Karate Kid... but while I didn't want to like it, I'll be damned if it wasn't everything I was hoping for. Intellectually, not the greatest, but emotionally, a home-run.

Overall I would say Redbelt is worth seeing-- but it probably won't be around for more than another two weeks, and if you're not willing to think, don't bother with it. There are some great action sequences, but the script is the real star.