Three stars

There's an inclination to look at the advertisements for "Redbelt" and dismiss it as another in a long line of chop-socky, exploitative martial arts films or a Jackie Chan-like ripoff.

That is, until closer inspection of the credits turns up the name of David Mamet as the film's director and writer.

Mamet has made a career in film and theatre of telling tales in such a myriad of unconventional ways that one's expectations are perpetually off-balance.

Mamet's stories are delivered with a narrative sleight of hand that rivals that of the most renowned illusionists.

"Redbelt," despite its martial arts subject matter, is no different.

For while "Redbelt" may be set in the world of mixed martial arts, it's driven by the inner conflicts of the film's participants more than by the physical.

This is personified in the film's central character, Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a former military man who is now a teacher of jujitsu and other martial arts.

Mike is so devoted to the purity of his sport's discipline that he views tournament competitions as a betrayal of the spiritual principles that are the heart of martial arts. Mike is a good man who lives to teach and help others -- whether one of his students who has been wronged (Max Martini) or a wired, overwrought woman (Emily Mortimer) who barges into his studio in the late evening hours.

As admirable as Mike's goodness and principles may be, he is an innocent, which makes him easy fodder for the more worldly who exploit lives as opposed to being above them.

Mike's wife, Sondra (Alice Braga), for example, respects her husband's beliefs, but is at constant odds with the fact that his values don't always generate sufficient amounts of money.

This, coupled with the fact that Sondra's Brazilian family has made a fortune marketing mixed martial arts contests, creates a constant tension in their marriage.

Mike's intervention on behalf of Chet Frank (Tim Allen), a Hollywood star who finds himself in the wrong bar with the wrong crowd, seems to take Mike's life on a different course when the grateful Frank contemplates hiring Mike as a technical adviser for his new film.

Things, however, start to go dreadfully wrong when Mike tries to pass along his newly realized good fortune to others.

How Mamet distinguishes "Redbelt" from the run-of-the-mill martial arts picture is through his focus is on one man's battle for ethics and principles as opposed to fighting merely for ego, blood or conquest.

Mamet tells his story also in typical Mamet style -- with incredibly natural-sounding dialogue punctuating a variety of plot developments designed to keep the viewer perpetually off-guard as to what may come next.

Unfortunately, there are so many differing subplots and characters coming and going within Mamet's story that his literary tricks serve to be more distracting than engrossing.

At times, their significance to the overall story seems more a contrivance than anything of any real significance.

Although the film is populated with a plethora of Mamet regulars (Joe Mantegna as a shady agent, David Paymer as a bookie and Ricky Jay as a corpulent fight promoter), it rises and falls on Ejiofor's performance as Mike Terry.

Ejiofor (who bears more than a passing resemblance to the Steelers' head coach, Mike Tomlin) demonstrates that he is more than adept at handling the psychological as well as physical requirements of his role.

So when Ejiofor's Terry advises his students that "there's always an escape," one knows he's not just talking about jujitsu.

With "Redbelt," Mamet offers an escape from the mundane and vacuous entertainments that often pass for summer movies.