Tim Allen playing the bad guy is not what we’ve come to expect. For decades, Allen embodied the quintessential suburban dad while grunting through home improvement mishaps on television. He also voiced one of the most recognizable animated characters ever known and loved, Buzz Lightyear. But there was a moment in Allen’s career when he flipped the script for 2008’s mixed martial arts (MMA) movieRedbelt, written and directed by David Mamet, a clever wordsmith known for Glengarry Glen Ross, American Buffalo, and other acclaimed plays and films.
Typically, Allen portrays the warm protagonist, slightly flawed but good-natured. That’s not to say he hasn’t played characters with more of an edge in a few works, such as Jason Nesmith in Galaxy Quest and the profane losers Eliot Arnold in Big Trouble and Larry Roth in El Camino Christmas. But Redbelt is the only time he played a conniving villain. Allen’s cynical, manipulative character pleasantly surprised some audiences and shows that the actor has a lot more range than “family sitcom dad.”
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Allen’s Home Improvements show first aired in 1991, where he played the comedic archetype of a suburban dad and TV presenter, Tim Taylor. Taylor’s traditional masculinity was apparent as he fronted a DIY show, Tool Time, allowing audiences to laugh along with his excess masculinity and obsession with cars and power tools. This was heightened by the role of Pamela Anderson as his assistant Lisa, the “Tool Time girl,” who came just before things exploded for Pamela on Baywatch. Along with Taylor’s wife Jill and neighbor Wilson, family life was at the core of the program.
For 1995’s Toy Story, Allen created a confident, all-American delivery of a space ranger who truly believes he’s a hero, not a toy, creating an instantly iconic character. The catchphrase, “to infinity and beyond,” soon became a part of popular culture, rivaling Disney’s most memorable lines. Audiences latched on to Lightyear’s vulnerability and swagger, watching his journey from self-delusion to self-acceptance and more throughout four films. Allen’s roles in Home Improvements and Toy Story were lightyears away from Chet Frank in Redbelt.
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A Bold Move from TV Comedy
When Tim Allen filmed Redbelt, he was in a weird limbo. The first decade of the new century found him without a lead role in a TV series for the only decade of his career; he was in between the long-running htis Home Improvement and Last Man Standing. It’s also the only decade that he didn’t lead a Toy Story movie, with Toy Story 2 in 1999 and Toy Story 3 in 2010. Before Redbelt, he had appeared in a string of some lame comedies (Zoom, The Shaggy Dog, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, Wild Hogs). Maybe that’s why he took a chance on playing such a very different tole in Redbelt.Redbelt’s plot is challenging to get to grips with; like many Mamet thrillers (The Spanish Prisoner, House of Games), it weaves a labyrinthine web of lies, betrayals, and hidden motivations. It follows moralistic jiu-jitsu instructor Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who lives under the Samurai Code, shying away from competitive fighting. As a result, he’s not very financially successful. He offers his services to officers at the police academy, including Joe Collins (Max Martini). By happenstance, Terry steps in to help when Hollywood actor Chet Frank (Tim Allen) gets into a drunken ruckus in a bar. Frank invites Terry and his wife Sondra (Alice Braga), who’s a Brazilian fashion designer, to dinner with a gift of a golden watch.
Desperate for money, Terry asks Collins to pawn the watch, but it gets stolen. Things start to look up, or so it seems, when Terry ends up working for Frank, but he shares some private details about his training methods. When Sondra goes into business with Franks’ wife, the deal fails and Sondra’s left in huge debt. Terry realizes he’s been manipulated by his new associates, who’ve stolen the unique fighting style he devised and scammed his wife. Terry is confronted with just one way out: compromise his principles and fight for a large sum of money.
Is ‘Redbelt’ an Underrated MMA Film?
Unlike Buzz Lightyear, Allen’s character in Redbelt is about as dishonorable and awful as it gets, albeit in a realistic and grounded way that’s recognizable in the business world. Backstabbing, sneaky, and brash, Allen’s portrayal of Chet Frank, along with other shady characters, like Frank’s manager Jerry Weiss (Joe Mantegna) and fight promoter Marty Brown (Ricky Jay), contrast with the principles of Terry. Mike Terry seems like the only man of honor in a corrupt city, and his life quickly spirals out of control as a result.
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At that time, Mamet’s newfound interest in martial arts was the catalyst for Redbelt, and fed into the creation of visually attractive fight scenes. While the final MMA fight is one of the coolest ever put to film, Redbelt is the rare martial arts movie that’s more about the art. It’s less about physical strength than moral strength and conviction. As Roger Ebert explained:
It seems about to become one kind of movie, a conventional combination of con games and action, and then shadow boxes its way into a different kind of fight, which is about values, not strength.
The San Francisco Chronicle believed Mamet’s writing to be stronger than his directing (and Mamet hasn’t directed a completed feature film since), but decided Redbelt’s casting was on point: “Allen’s Chet is someone who makes a habit of throwing his weight around. Allen uses his natural affability to show how quickly you can either be part of the in-crowd or be on the street. He’s mastered Mamet’s difficult delivery.” Allen did what he set out to do in a film that may not be a masterpiece, but is certainly underrated and perfectly cast. At the very least, it makes us want to see more Tim Allen villains.
Redbelt
Redbelt, directed by David Mamet, follows an honorable jiu-jitsu instructor, Mike Terry, who becomes entwined in the competitive world of mixed martial arts. Faced with financial struggles and personal dilemmas, he must navigate complex moral choices to maintain his integrity. The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor in the lead role, providing a nuanced performance that reflects the principles and challenges of his character.
