Redbelt: User Reviews

OK not his best.
By Jon L from Roscoe Pillage, May 16, 2008

The review by Phillips is spot on.

I saw Redbelt and was disappointed by it.
Don't get me wrong, I would go see it all over again (and still may), but with Mamet my expectations are sky high. My main complaint is not enough “Mamet speak.” The dialogue was not nearly as biting as some of his past stuff. I was hoping for Mr. Miagi attacks the Glen Gary files. I could care less about the action, but I expected the subject matter would allow Mamet to be both philosophical and aggressive with his language. Like Baldwin abusing the salesmen in Glen Gary, or Mantegna’s conflicted sense of duty in Homicide. Instead Chiwetel Ejiofor is compassionate and honorable, which is great in real life, but where is the cynicism in that? Isn’t it Mamet’s cynicism that we love? Hollywood friendships are fickle and boxing (or in this case MMA) is fixed. Those things we already accept as true. I want Mamet’s writing to shine a light on the bald spots, and the characters to say things that are so simple and honest that a single word is not wasted. There is some of that in this film, but I wanted more.