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Re: Redbelt - quick review
This opened a week ago in NYC after playing the Tribeca Film Festival.
Ejiofor has been a compelling supporting presence in a variety of films, from Serenity to Inside Man to Four Brothers. Here, though, he takes on a truly demanding lead, both physically and verbally, and he delivers on all fronts.
Don't make the mistake of going into this film looking for a con. There are crooks all around, but this isn't one of Mamet's films about deception. It's a film about honor, and at a certain point you'll probably see the end coming -- and still enjoy it when it arrives.
Mamet has always had gift for casting against type. He did it with Steve Marin in The Spanish Prisoner, and here he does it with Tim Allen as the sleazy actor that Mike Terry saves in a bar fight. There isn't a hint of comedy in Allen's portrayal. He's scarily convincing as a creep.
The film has a lot of first-timers to the Mamet world, including Emily Mortimer as an attorney with a substance abuse problem and Alice Braga (from I Am Legend) as Terry's wife. Look for Mamet regulars Joe Mantegna, Ricky Jay, Vincent Guastaferro and, of course, Rebecca Pidgeon. Fans of the The Unit will immediately spot Max Martini ("Mack") in a major role, and fans of The Shield will spot Cathy Cahlin Ryan (wife of Shield creator and Unit co-creator Shawn) in a small but memorable one.
M.
"Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything." -- Chinatown
"What kind of movies would there be if everyone in them had to do what we thought they should do?" -- Roger Ebert
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