Redbelt: Honor, Integrity, & Courage

I saw the movie Redbelt this afternoon. It is written and directed by David Mamet who has written other movies like Glenngarry Glen Ross --one of my top ten favorites, House of Games, The Untouchables, and many others.

Redbelt begins in a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy owned by the main character, Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor). He's teaching his prize student his philosophy that there's always an escape from every situation as long as one is calm and collected. During this lesson we also learn that Mike is having some money issues. The problem is that teaching doesn't pay the bills. His wife, the sister of a famous jiu-jitsu fighter, wants him to ask his brother for a loan. Mike doesn't want to ask for a loan because he knows her brother will want him to fight on the undercard of his upcoming fight. Mike won't do that because competition for money distracts the warrior and weakens his mind. Next, add an unlikely set of circumstances (Mike's teaching technique was stolen and exploited in a pay-per-view telecast), throw in an appearance by Tim Allen, who was pretty good in his small role, and engage the blender. Through all of this we have classic David Mamet dialogue, close-ups galore, and solid mixed martial arts ass-kickin'.

I'm going to try and giveaway what I feel is the point of the movie without giving it up too much. I'll give you a spoiler alert anyways.

***************************SPOILER ALERT****************************

The unlikely set of circumstances force Mike to fight in a ring. He discovers some things 15 minutes before he fights that go against his core beliefs that he's already compromising. As he's walking away from these events, one of his students whispers to him "sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do." It's a great moment in the movie where Mike decides to stick by his principles.

******************SPOILER ALERT END****************************

This movie showed in the end that if we hold to our principles, have the courage to uphold our convictions, and if we have the integrity to do the right thing, good will prevail. There's even a God message in there for my buddy Mark Roberson.

Redbelt is a classic hero story that I recommend to anyone who has the patience to sit through a David Mamet dialogue movie.