It’s taken me a while to realise I love David Mamet. As Club Columbia DVD starts up I’ve started watching some more films now. I don’t think I was prepared for Redbelt.

I’m going back to London soon and am looking into some martial arts to take up- they’re more fun than football and you learn how to fight while keeping fit. I had seen posters for Redbelt on the shelves but had dismissed it as some cheap Rocky knock-off.

I could picture the studio heads round a shiny black table, nervously fidgeting with their water bottles until one of them sparked up with “How about like Rocky, but make the main guy black. It can be like a black Rocky.

“Yeah, Obama, race, fighting- great idea Chad!”

No thank you, I thought.

Then I looked closer and the main actor was Chiwetel Ejiofor. Remember him? He was Denzel’s detective pal in Inside Man. Great actor. So I decide to go with it. Plus it had Tim Allen in a drama which I figured would either be really good, or really bad and really funny.

Redbelt was AMAZING. I hate phrases like tour de force. But this movie genuinely deserved all the usual praise films get. It was actually one of the best films of the year.

If you’ve seen some samurai films, you may see them in this. The lone warrior, living by the code. Living with honour. Chiwetel Ejiofor captures this spirit without being bland. He has this serene outside, while he harbours all this potential violence underneath. Crazy good.

The main credit has to go to David Mamet though. I remember his name from some plays a while back- didn’t think twice about it when I was choosing movies.

Then I looked him up on IMDB- he is responsible for so many great stories, and films that I want to see- The Untouchables, Glengarry Glen Ross, Wag The Dog and The Winslow Boy? This man is total genius.

David Mamet is what they talk about when they say you can’t make a good movie without a good story. He isn’t some annoying obtuse art house man- he knows how to tell a story- simple and powerful. I’ll review the films I’ve seen of his soon enough- but if you have to see one right now- go get Wag The Dog. I had never heard of it, but this film is so good, and even more bizarre… it’s so true.

Anyway, Club Columbia DVD definitely recommends Redbelt today. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hollywood, fight promotion and David Mamet- go see this movie as fast as you can. You will not regret it.

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