Comments: Chiwetel Ejiofor is fantastic in this film. Beautiful. But that's all it's got going for it. The fights are staged and shot poorly. The script really stretches the viewer's ability to suspend disbelief. Typically Mamet styled con game that just doesn't hold up. And there were times when time didn't seem to make sense. Too bad. Good cast. Could have been, or should have been, better.
Summary: Is there room for principle in Los Angeles? Mike Terry teaches jujitsu and barely makes ends meet. His Brazilian wife, whose family promotes fights, wants to see Mike in the ring making money, but to him competition is degrading. A woman sideswipes Mike's car and then, after an odd sequence of events, shoots out the studio's window. Later that evening, Mike rescues an action movie star in a fistfight at a bar. In return, the actor befriends Mike, gives him a gift, offers him work on his newest film, and introduces Mike's wife to his own - the women initiate business dealings. Then, things go sour all at once, Mike's debts mount, and going into the ring may be his only option.
2008
USA
Redbelt
