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Redbelt
User Score
6.7 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 24 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 24
  3. Negative: 5 out of 24

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  1. DWilly
    May 18, 2008
    3
    This is a bad movie. Do you understand what I'm saying? This movie Mamet wrote. It's bad. They aren't even actors, some of these people. Ricky Jay, Tim Allen. Lady playing the cops wife, must be Mamet’s accountant or worse. Line readings like you got turds in your Christmas stocking, so off putting. Phoney Jiu-Jitsu, lacks all common sense. Characters you don’t know how they got from A to C, nor why they're doing half what they're doing, which goes over and over for the ending which is an insult. Even this Ejlofor who has talent has bad scenes. Mamet. Please.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. NatalieR.N.
    Apr 30, 2008
    8
    Typical Mamet -- with surprise turns and illusions. Good movie.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. ChadS.
    May 10, 2008
    8
    While we recognize the sophistication behind a motif when it's employed in a literary, or cinematic work; the primary motif for "Redbelt", a bowl of chance containing three stones(two white and one black), looks downright bizarre when Mike's intellectual property is actually being utilized at the start of a mixed-martial arts fight. Under the stewardship of a fight promoter, the man who draws the black stone, doesn't lose with honor, he just loses. The drawing of the stones works on a literary level, but as a realistic depiction of a sporting event, a condition predicated on a handicap, prior to an actual fight, seems highly unlikely, if mixed-martial arts is the new boxing, and not the new "professional wrestling". But the filmmaker needed to show Mike's "bushido" code being corrupted by dishonorable men to prompt this decent man into a transformation for his own good. In the film's climax, we can see that he's rewritten the bylaws without abandoning its basic tenets, as a means to show his wife(Alice Braga), his Hollywood connection(Tim Allen), and his new friend(Emily Mortimer), that he's going for the red belt(read: brass ring) on his own non-denominational terms. "Redbelt" is a thinking man's "Rocky", but more relevantly, it's a breathing man's "Never Back Down". It's also "House of Games" meets "State and Main".… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  4. SteveR.
    May 19, 2008
    1
    I cannot believe how badly this film misses the mark. Mamet brings high expectations. This film has chasm wide holes. People who betray at the last moment. People who disengage for no reason, people who slap and love with no investment. If not for Ejiofor and Alllen, this film was atrociously written and poorly acted. Mamet's worst effort by a wide margin and inexcusable given his knowledge of the subject. Randy Couture stutters every first line. What a fiasco, and I cannot believe the Metacritic score, i have never been so far off. 20 years from now, some films rise and gain cult status, mark my words, this will gain Showgirls status.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  5. KelaM.
    Aug 2, 2008
    2
    The crappiest movie I have seen in a while;the end was particularly corny.Boring and complete waste of time.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  6. JayHiggins
    Aug 24, 2008
    4
    I am obviously in the minority on this one, but what can I say, the movie just didn't interest me. I simply couldn't get into it. The cast was okay, Emily Mortimer however was great. Boring.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  7. AdrianM
    Aug 8, 2008
    8
    Best MMA film to date. Good character development and quite an unexpected ending. Glad Therry did not just walk away like most people would have rathered. Remember, Therry is a fighter at heart and sometimes you just have to fight.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  8. GeorgeM
    Sep 2, 2008
    9
    This is the strangest martial arts movie I've ever seen, its not some chop socky mess with a silly story and 1-dimensional characters, this is a complex film with a deep sense of character development.....its a personal journey for the "hero" AND the viewer as well. The is a film about morals, honor, and the human spirit that for some, simply CANNOT be broken.....our hero seems to think about everyone but himself, and no matter how hard he tries to help other people it tends to backfire in his face but his intentions are pure and true. This is a man you really want to see succeed, its hard watching bad things happen to such a good person who means well in everything he does.....and while it ends rather abruptly with MANY questions left unanswered and the well-being of our hero a little "open".....it still manages to end like the 4th of July with a triumphant personal victory. This is a wonderful film about the "deeper" side of martial arts, the courage of someone that simply CANT be held down by the outside world, and the good that can be found in a ugly ugly world. BUY this......rent Never Back Down (then get hypnotized to forget about it), and be happy with your decision......i'm sure youll understand what i mean after youve seen both.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  9. RyanP
    May 12, 2008
    9
    Excellent movie. There aren't that many dramas which explore the TRUE meaning of the martial arts. I appreciate this since I'm a martial arts student myself.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  10. AustinW.
    May 3, 2008
    7
    This movie was one of the weirdest movies I've seen in a long time, and not intentionally. It's basically The Spanish Prisoner meets Never Back Down. It's got giant plot holes (to the point where things don't make sense) but the scenes of brilliance make i t worth it. Ejiofor is outstanding.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  11. MarcusA
    May 21, 2008
    5
    Why is it that when I see a Mamet written and directed movie, i always come away with the impression that it was written and directed by a first time writer / director. The so called "twists and turns" are telegraphed well in advance, and the actors' delivery is consistently choppy and one-dimensional. I don't think that the actors lack skill, but that instead the direction they're receiving is amateurish. Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way. Maybe I should just should just lower my expectations if I know that Mamet is writing / directing, then I won't be disappointed.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
69 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    75
    Mamet is on his game, and that is a sight to see. No con.
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  2. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Michael Rechtshaffen
    80
    As the heart and soul of the film, Chiwetel Ejiofor once again impresses.
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  3. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    70
    An absorbing and colorful, if not particularly convincing, excursion into a demi-monde of fighters, scammers, promoters and self-styled modern samurai, Redbelt gives the impression of Mamet coyly toying with the idea of making a populist little-man-against-the-system sports melodrama without actually attempting to create a film for the masses.
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