Redbelt is the thinking man's martial arts movie. While there are a few fighting sequences to be found in this latest effort from the amazing David Mamet, Redbelt is far more about character.

Chiwetel Ejiofor gives a powerfully subtle turn as Mike Terry, a consummate do gooder and martial arts trainer whose life takes an interesting turn when a fateful event leads him into the movie business.

Redbelt is certainly no easy film to describe let alone market. It's being sold as a martial arts action yarn and while it does have action to offer, there's something much more intricate at the heart of this wonderfully nuanced movie. No surprise there as David Mamet is the king of both intricacy and nuance.

When Redbelt began, I thought I knew where it was headed, but I was wrong. There are a few obvious double crosses and plot twists, but at the end of all these twists and turns are more twists and turns. Only in the capable hands of a colorful wordsmith like Mamet, the proceedings never feel over-bloated or heavy handed.

Mamet has had a successful career as a playwright, and his knack for edgy dialogue (see the brilliant Glengarry Glen Ross) has seeped into his film making style. For some, the beats and rhythm of his dialogue are little too much to handle. There certainly is an odd ring to the fashion in which his characters speak, but then that's one of the many things that sets Mamet apart from other film makers. And once Mamet's actors have a grasp of these carefully thought out conversations, the end result is magic.

With a wonderfully eclectic cast including Ejiofor, Emily Mortimer, Ricky Jay, Joe Mantegna, David Paymer, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Tim Allen of all people, Mamet has fashioned perhaps his most accessible film to date. This isn't to say it's completely mainstream. The film still has that vintage Mamet feel, but its themes of honor and straight shooting are universal.

There's so much going on in Redbelt, that to try and explain it in a five hundred word review would be near impossible. Rest assured though, the movie is easy to follow. Mamet has the amazing ability to make the complicated appear simplistic. This is perhaps the most original and unconventional take on the underdog sports movie that you'll ever see.