Redbelt

Redbelt opened on May 6, 2008 on six screens nation wide, grossing a mere $65,000, far from its budget of $10,000,000. Written and directed by the famous playwright David Mamet, he explores the challenges Mike Terry faces as he tries to uphold the true standards of the jiu-jitsu morals in the modern world, where everyone seems to be against him from his wife to business associates. Slow but surprising Mamet has gotten the technique of creating emotion through the juxtaposition of images. Although you may know what is going to happen and it feels like it will be corny, the small twist and untold obvious facts make it a genuine presentation. Most of the plot is delivered to you in the form of action or the way the actors look and talk to each other not through boring direct dialogue. Like if you where filming a brewers game and Fielder hit a game wining homerun then the camera cut to a fan yelling “Fielder his a homer, we won! We Won!” Instead we see the home run then there is a wide shot of the whole stadium erupting in joy. Mamet lets the image speak for itself. The only flaw is that when the actors do speak it is through a monotone voice that contradicts all of the non-verbal scenes that happened before it.
Redbelt is a fight for the underdog, an argument against the studio, commercialization, and the strive to be rich. We are given a man that has the highest standards of morals that have hardly been tested before. Now they are tested to the limit, he must uphold his morals when everyone around fights for him to cross over to the dark side. Just before he steps his foot across the line he pulls back and fights for what is right, the truth. In the end he is rewarded with the highest honor he could personally ever wish for. If we stick to our gut feelings, what is morally right, and is the truth the path we lead will only take you to a life without regret. A motto that is at the heart of the independent cinema. If the studio where to make this film they would hypocrites. A moral that might actually benefit the lives of the every day people could only be made by a independent. Plus, the only known actor in the film plays a drunk, lying, cheating, stealing movie star. Yeah.

Jonathan Lenoch