Redbelt (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emily Mortimer, Tim Allen, Joe Mantegna, David Paymer, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay) — David Mamet is either a playright and director you love or not. I do. Mamet has written such wonderful screenplays as Glengarry Glen Ross, The Verdict, and The Untouchables and directed such fantastic movies as State and Main, Heist, and The Spanish Prisoner. He uses his acting troupe, which includes such notables as his wife Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay, Joe Mantegna and Clark Gregg, and supplements them with stars like Bill (William H.) Macy, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin. His dialogue is very distinctive, and you either appreciate his unique style or you think it’s very stilted. His movies almost always involve mystery and a little violence as well as plot twists and elaborate schemes. Redbelt is a fitting next effort. This time, he adds Chiwetel Ejiofor (Inside Man, Talk to Me) playing principled, expert jujitsu instructor Mike Terry, who runs his own academy, albeit unprofitably. His wife is far more ambitious and really doesn’t understand her husband’s commitment to his craft and his students. Admired by the policemen and soldiers he teaches, he long ago quit using his skills in the military and is teaching, not competing. But on a mission of honor to a local bar, he finds himself protecting a movie star (Tim Allen, playing against type as Mamet’s stars often do) from a fight. That’s when the intrigue and the twisted plot begins. The rest is a puzzle involving marshal arts, an insecure and beautiful attorney (Mortimer), a made-for-television sports promoter (Jay), a loan shark (Paymer), and a double cross or two. Mamet moves the plot along at his usual breakneck pace, sometimes faster than the audience can keep up. And then the movie pays off, even as I was still working through who did what to whom and why. Since I’m an admitted Mamet maniac, I recommend it highly and hope you enjoy it.