Redbelt
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: May 2, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
29
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
The film unravels a bit in the last few moments, amid unanswered story questions and a simplistic climax, but until that moment, Redbelt is Mamet's richest film of the decade. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Mamet regulars Ricky Jay and Joe Mantegna blend well with Mamet newbie Tim Allen, a treat as a spoiled-rotten aging Hollywood action star. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Mamet is more respectful than exciting as an action director, but his fascination with how things work, be it the mechanics of designing and promoting a big pay-per-view event or battling a world-class Jiu-jitsu master, makes it all quite mesmerizing. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
As the heart and soul of the film, Chiwetel Ejiofor once again impresses. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
A satisfying, unexpectedly involving B-movie that owes as much to old Hollywood as to Greek tragedy. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Ejiofor brings a calm magnetism and a beatific serenity to his roles that have the effect of knocking you flat -- there's something about this guy that's messianic. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Mamet is on his game, and that is a sight to see. No con. Read full review
75
PremiereGlenn Kenny
For whatever its flaws, Redbelt offers up a good deal of Mametian red meat while also trying to break out of some of the strictures that Mamet's erected around his own work. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
It's certainly not Mamet's signature rapid-fire dialogue, but it's an intriguing and engrossing departure. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle Smith
This isn't Mamet at his finest, though, which leaves us with a script that is merely three times as smart as the average feature. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Not everyone can act his material with ease. But Ejiofor, who brings a serene gravity to every exchange, was born to do Mamet. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Entertaining in a pulpy kind of way, like the fight films of the 1930s and '40s, and more accessible than most of Mamet's movies. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
In Redbelt, David Mamet enters the realm of sports drama and Rocky-underdog clichés and discovers it's a surprisingly good fit. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Mike Terry's uncompromising fight for his principles makes for a fascinating, beautifully acted study in philosophical tension. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
What Redbelt reminded me of more than anything else was a modern version of a classic film noir, particularly 1950's brilliantly seedy "Night and the City," with its pro-wrestling subplot. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It never really pulls itself together into the convincing, focused drama it promises, yet it kept me involved right up until the final scenes, which piled on developments almost recklessly. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
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. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
So how's the Mamet "Rocky"? Fast. Lively. In your face. Very watchable. And, like its predecessors, so bizarrely convoluted it barely holds together on a narrative level. But the underpinnings are consistent. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
With his 10th feature--an entertaining tale of high-stakes martial arts--Mamet has infused the sleight of hand with a measure of two-fisted action. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Mr. Ejiofor gives a commanding performance, perfectly calibrated in what's withheld just as much as what's revealed. Read full review
70
TimeRichard Schickel
Despite its novel milieu somehow remains trapped in genre conventions. It's still basically a boxing picture, not essentially different from dozens of other movies about life in and around what the old time sportswriters used to call "the squared circle." Mamet's circle is, alas, just a little too square. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
What is memorable is the film's portrait of a man of honor in a sleazy world, possibly a metaphor for the struggle of the artist to stay honorable in a world of backbiting, betrayal and hunger for easy money. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
It's a classic fight movie, with Chiwetel Ejiofor as an honorable martial arts instructor...But nesting inside is a sour little 70s-style David Mamet play about the lies, calculations, and ice-cold politics of Hollywood, as the fighter is befriended and then discarded by a callow movie star. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Thanks to Ejiofor's wonderful performance--his easy, commanding body language wordlessly convinces you of his character's nobility--and Mamet's knowing take on the arcane world of Brazilian jiujitsu, Redbelt never loses its muscular hold on your attention. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
In the end, Redbelt prevails, just as Terry teaches his students to prevail, but getting there isn't always pretty. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
A perverse mixed-martial arts film in which talk trumps action. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The plot is borderline ridiculous and certainly doesn't stand up to close (or even not-so-close) scrutiny, but there's a level of entertainment to be had watching it unfold in all its strangeness. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
One of the problems with the way Mamet resolves Mike's predicament is that it's ridiculously implausible - even in the context of a far-fetched fight story. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Disappointingly unique. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Redbelt will fascinate those who share David Mamet's interest in mixed martial arts. But its hold may be weaker on those who don't. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
David Mamet and jujitsu come together in Redbelt, and the result is a draw. Read full review
40
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Mamet's trademark artificial, mutual-incomprehension dialogue and con-game plotting are ineptly matched to the action genre (and feel stale in any case), while the jiu-jitsu scenes are so incoherently shot and edited you can't tell if the fight choreography is any good or not. Read full review
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