Purely Joyful Movie!

Best movie of this year hands down!

Admirable film.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It took me years to come back and finish this movie. Back then, I felt it was too slow. Fast forward to the past weeks it still took me multiple sittings to finish it. But its worth taking your time. Mamet tells a beleivable and engaging story via a cast of quality acting performers.

This film is so superior, and yet apparently (according to IMDb) it made no money at all! The irritatingly named Chiwetel Ejiofor is a gifted British actor who embodies the heroic theme of this film: holding on to your ethics in the midst of massive corruption. Writer/director David Mamet has described corruption many times, and his bad guys always have the language, but Mike Terry (Ejiofor) has ideals, and reveres the Japanese "Professor" who holds the unique Red Belt. It's fascinatingly familiar to see Terry's world collapsing around his ears, and his debts mounting over his head. His jiu-jitsu craft comes into action when he teaches Emily Mortimer's rape-victim character to defend herself, and she provides the stimulus (in a cracking slap round the face) for him to turn round and confront his tormentors and challenge the whole MMR racket and its Gina Carano-type "star" fighters. It's a great climax, and neatly redirected when, instead of taking the mike and denouncing the event, he takes the red belt from the professor. End of picture: highly recommended.

It's not very often that a film comes along about a martial art that is still relatively unknown and it actually pulls it off quite well. The jiu jitsu in the movie is done pretty well and the plot is really actually quite good. Obviously you wont be sitting there watching a performance as good as De Niro in Cape Fear or anything like that. It was a straight to DVD release because it lacks star power, noteworthy performances, or flashy special effects. Know that, and be a fan of jiu jitsu or even a practitioner, and you should enjoy this movie. It's very nice to see an aspect of MMA that really birthed the sport, and it be done justice.

When I started watching this, I wasn't too sure what I was getting myself into, we all watched typical action films; they tend to be a 'no-brainer', well, not this one.The cast could not have been better picked, with strong and convincing performance from Ejiofor, the way he played, made it easier to understand the lead character's essence; not wealth-driven nor money-driven person unlike his wife. The movie slowed down half way but overall, moved at a steady pace which is where the difference comes with director's vision; he tells the story, tries to get you to know the characters, and this is where I think this film could have been even more than what I saw.I am not a big fan of MMA, but the choreography was brilliant, the movements looked so real. At the end of this film, you will not be disappointed but you will probably say 'I want more'! The film had lots of potential to become a blockbuster but I guess this is what art and Hollywood-like directors part from one another, overall a wonderful work from the team.I would have given it 7.5 (I am stingy!), but there are no halves in voting, that's why I gave it 7.