On 35mm at the Kabuki with Lucía and Ben on 20 May 2008 at 21:20.
Redbelt was very much like every other Mamet film I’ve seen: crisp dialogue delivered by all the actors in exactly the same manner; plot twists for the sake of plot twists. The ending is so short, implausible, and gratuitous that it’s tempting to read it as a mere fantasy on the part of Mike Terry, the main character—a vindication of standing by his core values, Job-like, in times of great adversity (despite a few slippages). The fact that he is able to take his wife’s betrayal so in stride is particularly disturbing. Much of the film was spent developing the characters and their various motivations, and as the plot began to accelerate, the film began to feel more and more like a damaged ship trying to make it to port before its hull collapses.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.